Connected
by tjjones
Summary: Jacob & Stacey are together in college.Jacob becomes paranoid about someone watching him.Stacey starts having nightmares again but they are not what they seem nor is anything else.Starts after RIFR.J & S POV
1. Glowing

**Disclaimer: I am not writing this as my own. All characters and ideas belong to Laurie faria Stolarz**

**Stacy POV**

"Ouch!"

I slammed my finger in the door of our dorm room. I walked over to our mini fridge to see if there were any eggs to put on my now swelling finger. But of course the fridge was empty of all things eggs. I'll just have to deal with it.

I sat on my bed waiting for Amber and Janie to come back from the bookstore with our chemistry books. The two of them have become good friends since last school year which has made living in this room easier. Tonight the whole gang is going to Anthony's Italian Bistro to eat dinner before classes start tomorrow. I got off the phone with Jacob about ten minutes ago. I told him about tonight and he seemed hesitant but he said he would come.

He moved here from Colorado about a week and a half ago. For the past week it seems like something is bothering him, but then I remember what he went through here. After I went to Colorado to visit him over spring break six months ago, he decided to attend college here at Beacon. Things were strange the first couple of days in Colorado because he had a hard time remembering me, or us I should say. As we spent more time with each other the connection that we once had somewhat reappeared.

Since the day I found Jacob I haven't had a single nightmare. I guess going through what I went through was in itself my worst nightmare. Over the summer we tried to talk on the phone at least twice a day. I've realized long distance relationships are difficult to keep up, but he is definitely worth it and hopefully I'm worth it to him. I guess his memory couldn't cover up what his heart was telling him. During my stay in Colorado, I told Jacob everything I could about his life before the accident to help him remember. I even got him to remember Amber and PJ, which is a good thing since him and PJ are roommates here at Beacon.

I decided I was going to call Amber's cell to find out how much longer they would be, but before I finished dialing she and Janie burst through the door.

"The duchess is back," Amber said as she walked through the door.

"Duchess? Why wouldn't you want to be a queen or a princess?" I said.

"Because queens and princesses have to marry old guys. And excuse my French but this face and this body is too hot for an old rich guy who most likely isn't going to be worth anything in bed."

I laughed and Janie rolled her eyes and sat the bag down on the floor that contained our chemistry books.

"We're all set for classes tomorrow. Isn't it exciting starting a new school year," said Janie.

"Yeah I'm not going to miss the late night parties, the hot boys, and all the greatness of summer vacation. Well that stuff is still going to happen, never mind," said Amber.

"You know what I mean. New classes, new teachers, new people. I've already met a new guy and it could turn into something."

"As long as I don't walk in on you straddling him like you did with Hayden I'm okay with it," I said, "But I do think we need to keep the same rules we had last year about the boy situation."

"Okay that's fair," said Janie.

Janie sat on my bed next to me and we both looked up at Amber to hear her response.

"Fine! I won't bring PJ here without telling you guys," said Amber, "Gosh! You guys were fine with my blow up buddies!"

"That's because they didn't talk and go through our drawers," said Janie.

"She's got a point," I said to Amber.

We spent the next couple of hours cleaning up our room and deciding what to wear tonight. Around 6:00 Amber finally made a decision on what she was wearing.

"I think the purple top, the jean skirt, and the pink leggings are the outfit," said Amber.

"It took you almost two hours to decide that?" Janie said sarcastically.

"Well I had to wear an outfit that would match my purple smiley face nails."

" So what time did PJ say him and Jacob were meeting us?" I asked Amber.

"He said they would meet us at 6:45 at the main door of our building. Oh and he also said that you Stacy dear need to show some skin tonight for your man."

"That sounds like PJ, well the skin part at least."

"Stacy why don't you dress up for Jacob?" said Janie.

"Yeah, I mean PJ said Jacob has been acting weird. Maybe he needs a little eye candy and a little loving to make him feel better," said Amber.

"You sound like Drea. Plus I never got all dressed up for him before and things are different now. He's probably just stressed out about school starting and everything," I said.

"Stacy we're not talking about a prom dress or anything. Just wear that black top Drea gave you with your new pair of jeans. It's casual but sexy," said Janie.

I ended up giving in and just putting on the black top with my new dark wash jeans while Amber and Janie went to the bathroom to freshen up. I then brushed my long hair and dabbed a little blush and lip gloss on. I turned to look into Janie's full body length mirror to see what I looked like. What I saw was shocking. The black top Drea gave me perfectly fit my upper body. The jeans were the perfect color and actually made my hips look smaller. My brown hair looked beautiful against the black and my skin was….glowing.

"Wow! Who is the sexy lady in my room!" said Amber as she walked back into the room, "I hope you have a whip!"

"You look incredible Stacy!" said Janie, "You should dress like this more often."

"Thanks. I'm shocked I look like this too."

"I guess all those years of living with Drea finally rubbed off," said Amber as she slapped my butt.

"We have fifteen minutes," said Janie as she plopped down on her bed.

"Why don't we just grab our coats and go downstairs," I said, "Maybe they'll show up early."

Amber and Janie both looked at me.

"Yeah, well, maybe not. But still let's go downstairs and wait. It's not that cold out and plus there's a big cloud of hairspray floating around in here."

"Okay," said Janie as she got up off the bed to get her coat, "I can't wait to see Jacob's face when he sees you Stacy."

"You should be looking forward to see PJ's face when he sees Stacy," said Amber as she grabbed her coat, "Personally I can't wait to hear what phrase he comes up with about Stacy."

"It's going to be one for the books," I said as I grabbed my coat and opened the door.

All three of us then headed downstairs to wait for the boys and the always entertaining PJ comment. But what I didn't tell Amber and Janie was what I was looking forward to. I couldn't wait to see Jacob and his slate blue eyes and see what the new Jacob would think about my dressed up appearance.


	2. Paranoid

**Disclaimer: I am not writing this as my own. All characters and ideas belong to Laurie faria Stolarz**

**Jacob POV**

I probably should have asked Stacy or PJ where the grocery store was. I'm starting to think I need to ask someone for directions before I get myself lost. I decided to go into the next store to ask where it was. The store happened to be a candy shop. When I walked into the shop there were no customers at the front counter so I asked the man behind it for directions.

"Excuse me sir, can you please point me in the direction of the grocery store?"

"Sure. Go down the street, take a right, and it's the second store across the street."

"Thank you sir"

"Your welcome."

I turned and walked out onto the sidewalk when I felt the sense that someone was watching me. I turned my head quick to look behind me but no one was there. I sighed and turned back around and continued my walk to the grocery store.

Ever since I came to Boston I've had this strange feeling that someone was watching me. I think I'm just being paranoid. I mean I did go through a lot around here. I found out about five months ago that the camp was shut down. Mason and Rain were arrested for false imprisonment and burglary. The campers my age and younger were put into foster homes until they could get on their own feet in the real world. Brick, or Trevor, doesn't live far from the college. We still talk and are really good friends. He's the only person that truly understands what I went through and I'm grateful he was there at the camp with me. Even though the camp did the things they did, I still feel grateful for them and I think Stacy does too.

Stacy is really the only reason I came here to Beacon. I knew we were connected the moment I saw her the day that she saved me. When I went to Colorado with my parents as Jacob LeBlanc instead of Shell I felt like something was missing. That something was Stacy. I invited her to Colorado for spring break so we could get to know each other again. As we spent time together, I started remembering things. I remembered our white candle spell, the crystal cluster rock I gave her, and the first time I told her I loved her. I didn't want to lose that connection with her so I decided to move to Boston and go to Beacon University with her. That way we could continue our relationship and also be able to connect with our spells. Stacy and Trevor are the only other people besides my uncle that I know that practice WICCA.

I turned the corner and looked for the grocery store that was across the street. I spotted it and crossed the street. I walked in and grabbed a basket and continued toward the snack aisle. I was looking for chips when my phone rang. It was Stacy.

"Hey," I said.

"Hey what are you up to?"

"Nothing. I'm just at the grocery store picking up some things for me and PJ's room."

"Oh, well, did you have trouble finding the store?"

"No it was easy to find." I didn't want her worrying about me wandering around town by myself.

"Oh okay. I was wondering if you would want to come with me, Amber, Janie, and PJ to dinner tonight? You know a little outing before classes start tomorrow."

"Uh, I don't know Stacy. Wouldn't it be kind of weird with me being there?"

"No. Jacob they were your friends before, I don't see why it would be weird now. Come on. It'll be fun and relaxing and a step towards normal."

There it was again. That feeling. I looked around me but just like always no one. I forgot I was even on the phone until I heard Stacy on the other end of the phone.

"Jacob! Are you there? Jacob!"

"Uh, I'm sorry. What did you say?"

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah I'm fine." I really didn't want her to worry about me being paranoid either.

"Okay…So what do you say?"

"You know what, I'll come. Maybe doing something normal will help the situation."

"Great! I'm not sure about the time so ask PJ when you get home. Amber left him in charge of reservations for some reason."

"Okay I will. I'll see you later Stacy."

"Okay Bye."

"Bye."

I hung up and continued down the snack aisle wondering how tonight will go. It's not like I don't like Amber or Janie or PJ. I mean I'm rooming with PJ and Amber's his girlfriend and Janie is Stacy and Amber's friend. It just that it's really weird being around people that you know you used to know and you want to be normal and act like everything is normal but its just like I said… weird.

I got a couple of items and headed towards the front of the store to check out. After I checked out I walked out the store and started walking back the way I came.

I made it back to our dorm about 10 minutes later. It was easy to bring the heavy bag to our room because we were on the ground floor. When I opened the door PJ had a towel wrapped around his head and a robe on.

"PJ! What are you doing?" I said.

"Oh! Hey man! I just wanted to change my look before classes start tomorrow."

"What? Are you going walk around campus with a towel and a robe on?"

"No man! Check it out!"

PJ took the towel off his head and revealed lime green hair with black tips. I sat the bag of groceries I had on the floor and took a step closer for a better look. From the things I remember about PJ, him changing his hair color is definitely at the top of the list.

"Well, if you ever walk down the street at night you won't have to worry about getting hit by a car. They'll see you a mile a way."

"So I take it you like?"

"Yeah I do"

"Cool beans man! Oh I made dinner reservations at Anthony's at 7:00."

I was looking at PJ listening to what he was saying when out of the corner of my eye I could have sworn I saw someone looking in the window. I ran over to the window and opened it and looked out. Like always no one was there. Just the normal people hanging out on the lawn.

"Hey man you okay?"

"Yeah I just thought I saw somebody looking in here."

"Oh don't worry it's probably a little honey looking at my hot bod."

This paranoia is starting to get the best of me.

"So did you hear what I said?"

"Yeah 7:00."

"Yeah but we need to meet our women at 6:45 at the door of their building."

"Okay, I'm going to take a shower."

I grabbed my shower supplies and went into the bathroom and took a hot shower. While I was in the shower I was praying and hoping this paranoia would stop soon.

When I got out of the shower we still had an hour before we had to meet the girls. I ended up sitting on my bed and lighting a lemongrass incense. I just sat back and breathed in the scent hoping it would calm me down. PJ was to busy talking to himself while pulling every item of clothing he owned out of his closet. I stayed that way for about 30 minutes until I decided it was time to start getting ready. I opened my closet and decided that I would wear jeans and a blue button down shirt. PJ, after asking me three times how his outfits looked, decided he was wearing orange pants with a yellow shirt. It may be colorful but it's typical PJ.

We left our dorm and started walking towards the girl's dorm. It only takes about ten minutes to walk to their dorm. On the way PJ talked about Amber and about their relationship which has gone back since they were in high school. They're just connected. Just like me and Stacy. For the first time ever we arrived five minutes early, but to our surprise the girls were already standing outside waiting for us except for Stacy.

"Wow! We expected to wait on you guys for about ten minutes," said PJ.

"Why?," Amber said.

"Because me being a masculine male expected you my lovely to think we would be late because we are men."

"Yeah that's exactly what we thought," said Janie.

"Where's Stacy?" I said.

"She forgot her purse so she ran back up to the room to get it," said Janie.

"Why don't you start breathing heavily until Stacy comes down," said Amber, "You to PJ."

"Why?" I said.

"Oh you'll see blue eyes," said Amber and she and Janie snickered.

Just then the door opened and standing in the doorway was Stacy. She looked breathtakingly beautiful. I mean to me Stacy has always been beautiful but tonight something was different. She was glowing. She started to walk towards me with a huge smile on her face.

"Damn!" said PJ, "I know I told you to tell her to dress up but…damn! Girl you look stacylicious!"

Janie leaned into Amber and said, "Was that the comment?"

"Yep," was what she said.

"Stacy. You look…amazing!" I said.

She came closer and looked me in the eyes and said, "Thanks."

I smiled and took her hand in my mine and started walking towards Janie's car. Amber, Janie, and PJ followed behind us talking about something. I wasn't paying attention to their conversation because I was to busy staring at Stacy. I told her again that she looked beautiful. She then reached up and gave me a quick kiss on the lips. In that moment the worry I had about the paranoia faded away and all that was left was Stacy.


	3. Passion

Disclaimer: I am not writing this as my own. All characters and ideas belong to Laurie faria Stolarz

Stacy POV

Janie and Amber sat in the front of the car while I was stuck in the middle between Jacob and PJ in the backseat. Being that close to PJ is something I hope I never have to do again, but I didn't mind being close to Jacob. During the car ride, Jacob intertwined his fingers with mine and sat our hands on his knee and I rested my head on his shoulder. The whole way to the restaurant PJ and Amber did the couple play fighting thing while the rest of us sat and listened and got a couple of laughs. 

It didn't take long to get to Anthony's. Jacob told the waitress about our reservations and we were seated at a table immediately. She told us her name was Kathy and that she would take our drink orders. All of us ordered a coke except for PJ. He asked the waitress to mix Sprite, Dr. Pepper, and Fanta for his drink. Kathy seemed hesitant but she said she could probably manage it. 

"Alright. I'll be back with your drinks in a moment so I'll give you your menus so you can order," said Kathy. 

"I can't believe your making that poor women mix three different kinds of sodas for you," said Janie. 

"It's her job to take my drink order," said PJ, "Plus, how many people don't mix drinks together." 

Everyone at the table raised their hands. 

"Cool. That means I'm unique." 

"I don't think mixing your drinks made you unique PJ," I said, "I think your appearance did." 

"Jeez Stacy, don't make me blush." 

I smiled at him. 

"So…what is everyone going to order," asked Janie. 

"I think spaghetti," I said as I put my menu on the table. 

"Yeah me too," Jacob said. 

He smiled at me and I smiled back at him. 

"That's adorable. You two are doing the matching couple thing," said Amber. 

"It's food Amber," I said. 

"Yeah.. but it still matches. Duh." 

Kathy came back with our drinks and took our orders. About ten minutes later she brought out our food. 

"This looks really good," said Janie. 

"Yeah it does," said Jacob. 

"So," PJ said after cramming a meatball into his mouth, "Do any of you have a class early in the morning?" 

"Who here would be dumb enough to put a class early in the morning given our history?" said Amber. 

"Well….I have my world history class at 8:30," I said. 

"Stacy! Why would you do that!" said Amber, "Now you can't come out and party with us because you have to get up so early." 

"I was late to register and it was all they had left." 

For the next couple minutes we talked about everyone's schedules. Everybody's day started after nine which meant I was going to be on my own tomorrow. Great. Everyone was talking except for Jacob. He seemed to be enjoying the dinner since every time someone said something funny he laughed. But I knew something was up. I knew him to well. Hopefully it was just a matter of time before he told me. 

"I'm going to the restroom," said Janie, " Do you girls want to come?" 

"Yeah…It's a girl thing," said Amber, "Girls always go to the bathroom in groups."

I told Jacob I would back in a minute and left with Amber and Janie to go to the restroom. I figured Janie didn't even have to go to the bathroom. It was just time for the girl talk. 

"So…Stacy," Amber said as we walked into the restroom, "What's up with blue eyes? You look like a rock star and he's just sitting there. I figured he would be all over you like lipstick on a whore. " 

"Yeah he's being pretty quiet," said Janie. 

"I don't know," I said, "I've noticed him acting strange since he's got here. If was something serious he would tell me. I mean PJ has even noticed it."

"I'm sure if it keeps bothering him he'll tell you," said Janie, "We better get back out there." 

Janie and I dabbed on a fresh coat of lip gloss while Amber put another layer of purple lipstick on. 

"Let's roll," said Amber. 

We walked back out to the table. We finished our meal and decided it was time to go. Janie drove back to our dorm and parked the car and we all got out. Janie said she was going up to our room to call the guy she met the other day. She told PJ and Jacob bye and went into the building. Amber and PJ decided they were going to have a make-out session by the car so me and Jacob walked around to the front of the building. 

"I don't want you to leave," I said. 

"Me either," said Jacob, "Why don't we take a walk down the sidewalk by the woods." 

"Okay." 

He grabbed my hand and we made our way to the sidewalk. 

"So….was it as bad as you thought it would be," I said. 

"No it was good. I always have a good time when I'm around you." 

"Really? Because you were really quiet tonight. It seemed like something was bothering you." 

"I was just listening."

I grabbed his arm so he would stop walking. 

I looked him right into those blue eyes and said, "Jacob. Come on. Something's wrong. Why don't you just tell me?" 

"Nothing's wrong. Let's keep walking."

"No. What's wrong?" 

"Stacy nothing is wrong."

I gave him the look that I knew he was lying.

"I'm a bad liar aren't I." 

"Yes you are. So are you going tell me or do I have to guess?" 

He let go of my hand and turned so that his back was facing me. 

"It's just that…I don't know…I'm paranoid." 

"Paranoid about what?" 

"I'm paranoid about someone watching me and following me. Ever since I got here I've been paranoid. Earlier today when I was walking to the store I got the sense that someone was watching me. And then when I was on the phone with you, It happened again. Then when I got back to the dorm I was talking to PJ and I could have sworn I saw someone looking into the window. And then when I opened the window, no one was there. It's driving me crazy!" 

He turned around and had a worried expression on his face. 

I cupped my hands around his face and told him, "I know what you're going through. When I was having nightmares, I felt paranoid all the time. It's just something you have to deal with and figure out a way to overcome it." 

He placed his hands over mine that were still cupping his face and laced his fingers with mine. He took our hands and dropped them in front of us. 

"Look…why don't you call Trevor tomorrow and talk to him about it. You never know. He might be going through the same thing but he's not telling anyone." 

"Yeah…That's a good idea."

With that he let go of my hands and placed one of his on the small of my back and the other on my face. He leaned into me. We were so close our foreheads were touching. His soft lips were barely grazing mine. I wrapped my arms around his neck and pressed my lips to his. He pulled me closer to him. Our kisses were soft and sweet but they soon became rushed and passionate. Jacob hadn't kissed me like this since we've reunited. He has kissed me but nothing like this. Every time our lips parted we both gasped for air. Soon Jacob moved his lips to my neck and moved his hands that were on my waist to my back. We were so focused on each other that we didn't hear Amber yelling for me. 

Soon Jacob heard her and raised his head from my neck and said, "Amber's calling you."

"I don't care. Just kiss me."

I pulled his head down to my lips and we starting kissing again. 

"Stacy come on! It's getting late! You can suck face with Jacob tomorrow!" yelled Amber. 

That ruined the moment. 

Jacob and I parted our lips and I yelled back at Amber, "Okay! I'm coming!" 

Jacob grabbed my hand and said, "Come on. I'll walk you to the door." 

We walked back up the sidewalk and met PJ at the door. 

Before leaving Jacob pulled me aside and said, "You looked amazing tonight Stacy. I'll see you tomorrow." 

He gave me a quick kiss and opened the door for me.

"Goodnight Stacy"

"Goodnight Jacob."

Jacob closed the door and I made my way up to our room. On my way up, I realized that I was blushing and that tonight ended up being truly amazing. 


	4. Wake up Call

**Disclaimer: I am not writing this as my own. All characters and ideas belong to Laurie faria Stolarz**

Jacob POV

"Goodnight Stacy."

"Goodnight Jacob."

I closed the door behind Stacy as she walked into the building.

I turned around and asked PJ, "You ready man?"

When I looked at PJ he had a grin stretched wide across his face.

"What?" I said.

"You made-out with Stacy!"

"So. We are together."

"Come on Jake. Don't think anyone hasn't noticed."

"Noticed what?"

"Before your accident, you and Stacy were hot and heavy. I mean not as hot as me and my woman Amber but still you guys were all over each other. Since you've come back, things have been different. Something happened tonight that changed that."

PJ is one of my good friends and all but I didn't want to talk to him about the connection I had with Stacy. And how tonight her understanding what I'm going through made that connection stronger.

So I just said the typical guy answer, "Well, Stacy did look pretty hot tonight."

"Ah ha! I knew it! I knew telling Amber to tell Stacy to wear something hot would make you feel better!"

So people other than Stacy have noticed me acting strange.

"So….Since your like my boy now can I ask you a question?"

I was scared to say yes but I did it anyway.

"Sure."

"Do you think you'll get any?"

I felt my cheeks turning red as I walked passed him in the direction of our dorm. After making a couple more remarks, PJ ended up catching up with me and we walked back to our dorm. Since classes started tomorrow we decided to go to bed early. PJ was out like a light as soon as his head hit the pillow. I guess him seeing Stacy the way she looked tonight took a lot out of him.

My mind was to busy for me to go to sleep. Tonight was incredible. The dinner was a little uncomfortable at first but it turned out to be okay. It felt nice being around people that were just being your friends and not focused on the fact that I survived being lost at sea and amnesia. Having Amber, PJ, and Janie there was great don't get me wrong but having Stacy there was the best. Stacy has always been beautiful to me but tonight she looked spectacular. Just being able to hold her hand and look into her eyes and smile and know that in that moment everything's okay is the best feeling a person can ask for.

Stacy doesn't believe in fate but after what I've been through I believe it exists. I think I was brought back to Stacy for a reason.

I remember telling Stacy I loved her before my accident. She knows that I remember. Since we've got back together, I haven't told her that I love her. One of the reasons is that in the beginning I didn't remember all my feelings for Stacy. I wasn't sure if I was going to be able to love somebody I didn't remember being with. As I spent time with Stacy in Colorado, I started to remember. Before she got on her plane to come back to Boston, I kissed her. We continued our relationship over the summer on the phone. After having conversations with her over the summer, I realized the strong feelings I had for Stacy came back. But tonight when we were kissing I knew in that moment that I still loved her. I don't know when I'm going to tell her but I want it to be the right moment when I do.

I looked over on my bedside table and grabbed my crystal cluster rock. Stacy has helped me get my mind off the whole paranoia thing but I know it's still there. I'm going to call Trevor tomorrow and talk with him about it. Maybe he can help me get rid of it by doing a calming spell.

All of a sudden PJ made a snorting sound in his sleep and it brought me back to reality. I leaned over and sat the rock back on my table and shut my eyes and went to sleep.

Stacy pushes me into a walk-in closet. A light clicks on and the door closes.

"They must be super rich," says Stacy.

She pulls off her ski mask and now Lily is standing before me. She pulls a man's scarf from a hanger. She takes off my ski mask and drapes the scarf around my neck.

She starts to run her fingers through my hair and says, "I meant what I said before, you know. I love you….with all my heart."

With that Lily kisses me. A long, soft kiss. A kiss that tastes like honey. I open my eyes and Lily is now Stacy again.

"It's going to be okay," she whispers.

"I know," I say.

"Are you sure?"

Then Stacy disappears.

The lights go out.

I try to open the door but it's stuck. As I'm trying to open the door to get out of the closet I start to feel something cold and wet on my feet. It's water. The closet is filling up with water… fast.

I yell and scream and bang on the door but no one comes. The water is up to my shoulders now. I try to push the door open one last time. It's not budging. I realize there is nothing I can do so I take one final breath as the water rises to the ceiling. It's pitch dark under the water and I try to find a way out but I'm too tired. Then all of a sudden something hard hits me in the head and knocks me out.

I jolted up in bed gasping for air. The nightmare reminded me of the ones I had when I had predicted my death by water during our stay at the beach house. Since I've left the camp, I have had occasional dreams about it but none like this. I don't know what it means or if it even means anything.

I reached over for my cell phone to call Stacy when I saw the time lit up on the screen. It read 6:04 a.m. Stacy wouldn't be up yet and she needed her rest for today. So I decided I would wait until 7:30 to call her and tell her about my nightmare. I debated on whether to call Trevor or not but then I figured it's too early to call anyone. I set my alarm on my cell phone for 7:30.

Hopefully Stacy will assure me and tell me this nightmare is just a normal nightmare and has nothing to do with my paranoia. And if not, this sucks because I'm really tired of this crap.

I rolled back over and tried to go back to sleep.

Beep!

Beep!

Beep!

"Jacob!"

"Jacob wake up!"

" Turn the damn alarm off!"

PJ threw a pillow at me and its collision with my head woke me up.

"Why did you set the alarm for 7:30?" "We don't have to get up until 8:30."

"I'm sorry man, I just wanted to get in touch with Stacy before she left for her classes."

"Well can you call her in the lobby because PJ needs sleep. PJ doesn't look good without sleep."

"Yeah, sure, but only if you stop talking about yourself in third person."

"Deal."

He rolled back over and went back to sleep.

I got up and grabbed my cell phone and headed towards the lobby. When I got there I sat down on the green couch and dialed Stacy's number.

Ring

Ring

Ring

Ring

"Hey I can't get to the phone right now so leave a message and I'll get back to you in a bit."

That's weird, Stacy should be up. She has a class at 8:30. I waited a couple minutes to call her again. Maybe she went to take a shower and couldn't get to the phone.

Ring

Ring

Ring

I was just about to hang up when Stacy answered.

"Jacob! Oh God! Oh God!"

"Stacy what's wrong!"

"Stop freaking out!"

"Tell me!"

"Stacy!"


	5. Nightmares

Thank you to anyone who has read my story. I want to especially thank dimples08 for the reviews. I really appreciate it.** I'm really enjoying writing Connected. This is my first fan fiction so that makes me really excited to write it. The ****Blue is for Nightmares ****Series is one of my favorites so I hope I'm doing it justice. **

**Disclaimer: I am not writing this as my own. All characters and ideas belong to Laurie faria Stolarz**

**Stacey POV**

**I opened the door to our room and found Amber and Janie standing in the middle staring at me. **

"**What?" I said. **

"**What do you mean what?" said Amber, "I just caught you full on making out with Jacob!" **

"**Yeah. So?" I said. **

"**You two haven't kissed like that or even touched in each other since you guys got back together. Your relationship was on the level of a twelve year old and now your making out with each other in public?" **

"**It was a spur of the moment thing. Things have been different since we've got back together. We just had to build up to it I guess." **

"**Well, I think it's wonderful that you and Jacob are connecting on a another level," said Janie, "Relationships can't all be mental. Sometimes the physical part is just as important." **

"**Amen to that sister!" said Amber. **

**Amber high-fived Janie.**

"**So did you talk to Jacob about him acting strange or did you just make out the whole time?" asked Janie. **

"**No, I talked to him," I said.**

"**What's his deal then?" asked Amber. **

"**He said he has been paranoid ever since he got here." **

"**Paranoid about what?" asked Amber, "School?"**

"**No…He said he's paranoid about someone following him." **

"**Like a stalker or something?" asked Janie. **

"**Yeah…I guess." **

"**Do you think someone is really following him or do you think he's just being paranoid?" asked Amber.**

"**I think he's just being paranoid. Jacob did go through a lot here." **

"**Yeah you're right," said Janie. **

"**I think he just needs time to get used to living here. I told him the best person to talk to about this was Trevor. He went through the same thing Jacob did. Maybe he can understand what he's going through a little more than I can." **

"**Yeah, well, I don't mean to get all soft on you but I'm glad you two are finally getting back to normal," said Amber, "You deserve it." **

"**Thanks Amber." **

**I walked up to Amber and gave her hug. **

**Amber and I have been best friends for a while but these tender moments are rare. **

"**Wow! Amber!" said Janie, "You said a whole sentence without a sarcastic comment." **

"**See. I'm not made of stone." said Amber. **

**We spent the next couple minutes changing out of our clothes and taking our make up off. **

**The three of us then sat on Janie's bed and talked about the day until Amber surprisingly said, "It's getting late. Maybe we should go to bed." **

"**Did you just say something responsible?" I said. **

"**Was your spaghetti good?" asked Janie.**

"**Tomorrow is the first day of classes and I don't know about you guys but I want to look good." **

"**For who? PJ," asked Janie. **

"**No. My professors. You never know when you might need an extra grade boost. You have to be prepared at all times."**

**Janie and I laughed while Amber sat with a serious expression on her face. I don't think Amber was joking.**

"**Oh gosh," I said, "We do need to go to bed or we won't get up in the morning." **

**With that, we all said goodnight and got into our own beds. Amber and Janie both pulled their covers up over their heads and went to sleep while I grabbed my crystal cluster rock. I held on to it tight to ensure strength. Not only for me but for Jacob also. I hope when he talks to Trevor tomorrow he will feel better about the whole paranoia ordeal. **

**I spent the next couple minutes looking at the rock and all its rough edges. Then I put it back on my table. Reaching over the rock, I set my alarm. Then I leaned back into my bed and shut my eyes and tried to get some sleep. **

**Jacob and I are walking back up the sidewalk to my dorm. He kisses me goodnight and turns around and starts walking back towards his dorm. I'm walking towards the building when I notice a light in the woods. I'm curious so I begin to walk to the edge of the woods. I push some branches aside and step into the woods. When I look behind me, the dorms and sidewalk are no longer there. It's just pure darkness and woods. I still see the light but I'm not sure if I want to continue. I figure I have to go forward. I can't turn back because I don't know where I am or how to get out. So, I keep walking. Then I smell wood. Wood burning. Maybe the light is a fire. **

**All of a sudden, I hear breathing behind me. The breathing sounds like it's being muffled or something. Like something is over the person's mouth to keep them from making a sound. I close my eyes and take a deep breath and quickly turn around. No one is there. I walk a couple steps forward but still, no one. It's too dark to see what's on the ground. **

**I start bending down to see if the breathing is coming from something that's on the ground when I hear a woman's voice scream, "Help! You don't understand! This isn't what I wanted!" **

**I stand back up and look in the direction that the yelling came from. It's from the same direction that the light is from. I start running as fast as I can towards the place where the yelling came from. **

**As I'm running, I hear her again, "Help! You don't understand! This isn't what I wanted!" **

**I move my legs faster so I can get to her and help her but I can't. I'm running as fast as I can but I'm not going anywhere. I'm stationary. The woman screams again and I start crying. I'm trying so hard to get to her but I can't. Something is holding me back and I'm not going to be able to save her. **

**Then out of no where something hard hits me right in the forehead and knocks me to the ground. I'm trying to keep consciousness but the pain is unbearable. **

**The woman is still screaming and I feel like my head could split down the middle any second. Then I hear a different noise. **

**A phone. **

**My phone. **

**It must have fell out of my pocket when I hit the ground. I try to reach for the phone so I can answer it and get help for the screaming woman but I can't. My wrists are being held down by something. I try to scream out but I can't even do that anymore. When I open my mouth to scream, nothing comes out. Now the phone stops ringing but the woman is still screaming. I once again try to scream but still nothing comes out. **

**The phone starts ringing again.**

**Ring!**

**Ring!**

**I immediately sat up in bed. My head felt like it was going to split wide open. I put my hand on my head over my right eye. Then I realized my phone is still ringing. I look on my table and grab my phone. The caller I.D. reads Jacob. **

**I answered it. **

"**Jacob! Oh God! Oh God!" **

"**Stacy what's wrong!" **

**I was so dazed that I couldn't even answer Jacob. **

"**Stop freaking out! Tell me!" **

**By then Amber and Janie had woken up and were standing beside my bed asking what's wrong. **

"**I had a nightmare," I said. **

**I said it to Jacob but since Amber and Janie were standing beside me they heard it to. **

"**Not again!" I heard Amber say before Janie grabbed her arm and led her out of the room. **

"**What happened?" said Jacob. **

**I took a deep breath to calm myself before I told Jacob. **

"**It started out as a dream. And then I was in the woods and I saw a light. I was walking towards it and then I heard someone breathing behind me but when I turned around no one was there."**

"**Okay. That's sounds like a normal nightmare."**

"**No that's not all."**

"**Alright. Keep going." **

"**So then I hear a girl screaming for help and I start running towards her but after a while I'm not going anywhere. I run as fast as I can but I'm not going anywhere." **

"**Do you mean like something is holding you back?"**

"**Yes. Exactly. Then out of no where a branch or something hits me in the head and knocks me to the ground. The woman is still screaming and I try to scream but I can't do that anymore. And then my phone rings which was actually you calling me in reality. And that's when I woke up." **

"**Wow, I'm sorry Stacey." **

"**I feel sorry for myself. I can't believe this is happening again. I thought it was finally over but I guess I was wrong." **

"**We'll figure this out Stacey. We've had more than enough experience." **

**I looked over at the clock on Amber's dresser. It said 7:43. I had to be in class at 8:30 and I still had to take a shower, get ready, and walk there. **

"**Thanks Jacob. I have to go though, I have class in forty five minutes."**

"**Yeah you do." **

"**Wait a minute. You called me. Did you need anything?" **

"**Um….no don't worry about right now. We can talk later." **

"**Okay when is your last class?"**

"**My last class ends at 3:20."**

"**Did you have anything planned afterwards?"**

"**I was going to go over to Trevor's but your more important." **

"**No. Go to Trevor's."**

"**No. I'll come over."**

"**It's okay. I'll go to Porsha's afterwards. I haven't seen her in a while and I'm sure she can help me out with this nightmare." **

"**Are you sure?"**

"**Yeah. We can meet up later."**

"**Okay…Well, I'll talk to you later. Don't worry about this. We'll get through it, okay?" **

"**Okay."**

"**Bye Stacey."**

"**Bye." **

**I hung up. I got out of bed and grabbed my shower supplies and opened the door to find Amber and Janie standing there. **

"**Are you okay Stacey?" asked Janie. **

"**No, but hopefully I will be." **

"**I'm so sorry this is happening again Stacey," said Janie**

"**Yeah…me to."**

"**Do you want to talk about it?" asked Amber. **

"**Later, okay. I have to take a shower and get dressed and go to class, but we'll definitely talk later."**

"**Okay," said Amber. **

**Amber and Janie both gave me hugs before I went into the bathroom. I took my clothes off and got into the shower. I turned the water on as hot as it would go. My head was still killing me and hopefully the steam from the shower will help it out.**

**I couldn't believe this was happening again. I really haven't even had a dream none the less a nightmare since I found Jacob six months ago. I'm tired of this burden being on me all the time. It seems like just when everything is going perfectly my nightmares come and mess everything up. And of course it happens just when me and Jacob are starting to act like a normal couple again. **

**I got out of the shower as quick as I could. My head still hurt but the steam did help it a little. I didn't have time to dry my hair so I just dried it as best as I could with a towel. I wasn't even going to bother putting it up. I figured it would dry by itself throughout the day. **

**I started walking back to our room to change and grab my books. I opened the door and found that Amber and Janie hadn't gone back to sleep. **

**As I was changing Amber said to me, "Stacey are you sure your okay to go to class. Usually you stay in bed when this happens."**

"**Yeah, I know. It freaked me out at first but I can handle it now." **

"**We're just worried Stacey," said Janie. **

"**Thanks, but I'll figure this out. Look guys, I have to go or I'll be late. I'll see you guys later."**

**I grabbed my books and headed out the door. It took about ten minutes to walk to the history building where my class was. Luckily since I rushed, I was ten minutes early. I was standing outside the building waiting for 8:30 to come when I saw a familiar face. **

"**Hey Stacey," said Tim. **

"**Hey, Tim," I said. **

"**How was your summer?"**

"**Insightful, yours?" **

"**Well Miami wasn't anything like Cancun over spring break but it was pretty good." **

**I started get little shots of pain above my eye so I started to rub it with my fingers. **

"**Are you okay?" **

"**What? Oh, yeah, I'm fine." **

**Tim looked down at his feet and his usually happy persona disappeared. **

"**Tim, what is it?" **

"**I heard about what happened. About your nightmares." **

"**Already."**

"**No, I mean what you did last semester with the dean's daughter. That's why you were acting weird when we were hanging out. Why didn't you tell me?" **

"**Because I didn't want you to think I was crazy." **

"**I don't think you're crazy. I think your amazing. You put your life and sanity in danger to help your boyfriend." **

"**Well, I think Porsha deserves the credit for that one. I mean I didn't even know the person I was trying to save was Jacob." **

"**Yeah, but you still did it." **

"**So.. Your not going to report me to the insane asylum."**

"**No. I don't think you're crazy."**

"**Well, then you're a really good friend." **

"**If you ever need to talk or you need any help just call me, okay?" **

"**Okay."**

**I was shocked to find out that Tim knew. Word spreads quickly I guess. But I was more shocked to find that he believed my nightmares were premonitions. He didn't even second guess it. It was good to know that Tim was my friend and that he cared. **

"**Well, I guess we need to get to class." said Tim.**

"**What class you going to?"**

"**World History."**

"**Really? Me too."**

"**Cool. Mind if I walk with you?" **

"**Of course not. Come on." **

**We walked up the stairs and headed inside the building. We found the classroom and went inside. There weren't any seats available that were sitting beside each other so we had to sit across the room from each other. My seat was near the back and was next to a blonde girl wearing a green sweater. **

**I sat down and she smiled at me and said, "You made it just in time. Was that your boyfriend you walked in here with?" **

"**No. He's just a friend."**

"**Oh that's to bad. He's cute." **

**Right after the girl made the comment about Tim, Professor Wilkes walked into the room. For the next hour I sat in my desk listening to boring history facts. I couldn't have been more happy to see the clock on the wall read 9:30. I got up and Tim met me at the end of the aisle. **

"**So this is going to be a sleeper," he said.**

"**I know. It's even worse when you have a headache."**

"**When's your next class?" **

"**At 9:55."**

"**Lucky. I have chemistry in ten minutes, so I'll see you later. Bye."**

"**Bye Tim." **

**My day ended around 3:00. I came to the conclusion that this semester was going to be easy but boring. I decided that I was still going to go to Porsha's to try to figure this nightmare out. Porsha lived not to far from campus since her father was the dean. Her school got out around 2:30 so she should be home. I didn't want to waste money so I decided to walk to her house. It didn't take me long before I was standing in front of her house ringing the door bell. By my surprise, Porsha answered. **

"**Hey Stacey! I haven't seen you in a while. Come in."**

"**Yeah. I'm sorry I haven't been by. With Jacob coming and school starting , I've just been busy." **

"**It's fine Stacey. Don't worry about it." **

**She led me into the living room and offered me to sit on the couch. Porsha sat down next to me. **

"**So. What's going on?"**

"**Uh….not much until seven hours ago." **

**She had a confused look on her face.**

"**What do you mean?" **

**I took a breath and looked Porsha in the eyes. **

"**I'm having nightmares again."**

"**What? Stacey, I'm so sorry."**

"**So is everybody else and me." **

"**Was it a nightmare or a nightmare nightmare?" **

"**You sound like Jacob." **

"**Well, you never know. After we found Trevor and Jacob I had nightmares but they were just that. Nightmares. They weren't premonitions." **

"**That's the thing. I haven't had a single dream or nightmare since we've found them. This was definitely a premonition not a nightmare. It had the whole works of a premonition. The confusion, the symbols, the eeriness, everything."**

"**Why don't you tell me what happened." **

**I told Porsha everything I could remember about my nightmare. **

"**Yep. That sounds like a premonition." **

"**See. I told you."**

"**Do you have any idea who the woman is or what's breathing?" **

"**No. Not a single one."**

"**Don't worry. We can do this. We've done it before. Especially you."**

"**I know. It's the story of my life…… Can I ask you a question?"**

"**Anything." **

"**Has Trevor been acting paranoid lately?"**

"**No…I haven't noticed anything, why?"**

"**Jacob said he has been feeling paranoid about someone following him ever since he got here. I was wondering if Trevor has been going through something like that?"**

"**Well, if he is he's hiding it pretty well." **

"**I told Jacob last night to talk to Trevor about it. Still maybe Trevor can help in some way."**

"**Yeah, Trevor said he got a text from Jacob asking if he could come to Trevor's house after his last class this afternoon." **

**Without me even realizing it, I started to rub my head again because the shots of pain were back. **

"**Do you have a headache still from your nightmare?" **

"**Yeah, it's like stinging pain above my right eye."**

"**Have you taken anything for it?"**

"**No. I didn't have time."**

"**Let me make you some tea with bay leaves in it. The steam of the tea and the smell of the leaves will help with your head." **

"**How did you know that?" **

"**Trevor told me," she said with a smile.**

**Porsha went into the kitchen and made some tea. After the tea was done, she brought two cups into the living room and we sat and drank it. **

"**Stacey?" **

"**Yeah," after taking a sip of the tea. **

"**Why don't you stay here until Jacob is done at Trevor's. I don't think they'll be long." **

"**That sounds like a good idea." **

**Porsha and I sat and drank our tea while going through every detail in my nightmare. I knew I most likely was going to dream the nightmare again tonight but I wanted to try to figure things out fast. I had to. A woman's life was at stake. **


	6. Visiting

**Disclaimer: I am not writing this as my own. All characters and ideas belong to Laurie faria Stolarz**

Jacob POV

"Bye Stacey"

"Bye"

I pressed the end button on my cell phone. I couldn't believe this. Just when things were getting back to normal this happens. I felt so bad for Stacey. She has been through enough this year, she doesn't need this. I made a promise to myself on that couch in that lobby that I would do everything and anything to protect Stacey.

I looked at the digital clock on my phone and it read 7:43. PJ and I had a little under an hour before we had to get up. I decided I would go back to our room and try to think this thing out. I opened the door to our room and walked in and got back into my bed. I knew I wasn't going to go back to sleep so I didn't set my alarm. I laid there and stared up at the ceiling. I wondered if Stacey would ever be able to live a normal life. She deserves it, I know that much. The paranoia issue seemed kind of secondary now that Stacey was having nightmares again. I was going to put everything I had into helping Stacey figure this out but for my own sanity I had to get rid of this paranoia.

I forgot to call Trevor to ask him if I could come over this afternoon so I decided I would just text him during my lunch break since he was still in school and all. Before I knew it, it was 8:30. I didn't set my alarm so I had to wake up PJ. I got out of bed and went and stood next to his bed.

"PJ. Wake up man."

He didn't budge. Maybe not setting the alarm was a bad idea.

"PJ!" I yelled as I shook his arm.

After a minute passed, I decided it was time for reinforcements. I went over to his top drawer where he kept all his weird little knick-knacks. The day we moved in I remember seeing PJ put an air horn into the drawer. I opened the drawer and laying on top was the air horn. I picked it up and closed the drawer and walked back over to PJ's bed. I held the air horn high above my head. I tried to wake him up one more time by yelling. When that didn't work, I blew the air horn. PJ jumped out of his bed and had a karate chop stance going on.

"What the hell was that?" said PJ as he was looking around.

"Relax man, it was me."

I put the air horn in front of his face.

"Man! You scared the hell out of me!"

"I had to wake you up somehow."

"Good call though, good call. Thanks for looking after me."

"No problem."

"I wish I could have seen my face when I jumped up. You know it was funny as hell!"

"Yeah, it was."

Only PJ would laugh at himself in this situation.

Realizing we had to hurry up before the bathroom was crowded, we both grabbed our shower supplies and headed towards the bathroom. It only took us about five minutes to shower. When we got back to our room it was only 8:45. It would only take about seven minutes to walk to the math building. It's the closest to the dorms.

Since we had about fifteen minutes to spare, we got dressed and went out to the lobby and got some chips from the snack machine. PJ talked to some guy about ear gauges for a couple minutes and when he was done we went back to our room.

"So," PJ said as he sat on his bed, "Why did you have to call Stacey at 7:30 this morning?"

"I had a strange dream last night."

"What was it about?" said PJ as he stuffed his mouth with a chip.

"It was about something I went through at the camp. I just wanted to talk to Stacey about it, you know, get it off my chest and out of my mind."

Yeah, right. Like it would ever be out of my mind.

"Well you've been through a lot man. It's probably just old memories coming back."

"Yeah you're probably right."

"So what did Ms. Brown think of it?"

"I didn't actually get to talk to her about it."

"What do you mean? What did you talk about then?"

I wasn't sure if Stacey wanted me to tell PJ about her having nightmares again. I figured PJ would find out soon enough from Amber so I told him anyways.

"Stacey is having nightmares again."

PJ let out a big breath and said, "Man. I'm getting really tired of this happening every year. Can't the poor girl have a regular life?"

"Apparently not."

"How is she doing?"

"Good actually. She's a lot stronger these days. She can handle it a lot better than she used to."

"Yeah. Stacey has been through hell this year."

We sat and talked more about Stacey and I filled in PJ on what her nightmare was about. For the first time, PJ and I were having a serious conversation but it was cut short since we had to go to class. PJ and I started walking towards the math building. He saw one of his friends and he ran up to catch up with him. I was walking along the sidewalk when I got a feeling. Not just any feeling. The feeling.

I told myself that I was just imagining it and that no one was watching me. It took everything I had to keep walking and not look around to see if I could spot someone watching me. I walked straight to class and didn't talk to anyone. The class was only an hour long but it felt like decades. I was on edge the entire time I was sitting in that classroom. When the clock displayed 10:15 I couldn't have been more grateful. I immediately got out of my seat and walked straight to my English class. I didn't speak to anyone.

Finally, my lunch break came. I knew I was going to have to talk to Trevor today. I couldn't help Stacey if I was on edge all the time. I went into the cafeteria and got a sandwich and sat down at an empty table. I pulled out my phone and text Trevor. I knew he was in school but I was still hoping he would answer.

To: Trevor

From: Jacob

Hey, can I come over this afternoon after my last class? It's really important.

I sat my phone on the table and started eating my sandwich. About a minute later my phone vibrated. I looked at the screen.

To: Jacob

From: Trevor

Sure. What time is ur last class over?

To: Trevor

From: Jacob

3:20 so I'll be at ur house around 3:30. Appreciate it.

To: Jacob

From: Trevor

No problem.

I breathed a sigh of relief. I hope Trevor can help me. If he can't I don't know what I'll do. I'm sure I won't be able to help Stacey very much if I'm paranoid all the time.

I finished eating my sandwich and continued with my day. I thought it would never come but 3:20 did arrive. I didn't want to risk walking to Trevor's house alone so I took a taxi.

When I got there Trevor was already standing in the doorway. I paid the driver and got out of the taxi. I walked up to the front porch where Trevor greeted me.

"Hey Jake."

"Hey Trevor."

Trevor and I stopped calling each other Shell and Brick a while ago. Those names were given to us by Mason who was brainwashing us and we didn't want to keep them. We also figured that by going by our real names would help us get used to living like normal people.

"Come on in Jake."

He opened his front door and led me inside. His foster mother, Mrs. Williams, was sitting in the living room. The Williams family treated Trevor really well. He didn't have a true family before the camp so he was really excited to find out the Williams family was going to take him in. Mrs. Williams waved at me and told me hello as we passed the living room. I said hello to her and Trevor told me that we could talk upstairs in his bedroom.

I followed him upstairs to his room. Trevor opened his bedroom door and I walked inside. He sat at his desk while I sat on his bed.

"So what's up Jacob."

"I need to ask you something."

"Okay, shoot."

"Since we've got out of the camp, have you ever felt paranoid about someone watching you?"

"Yeah, I mean I was always used to someone watching me in the camp so when I got here I felt the same way."

That makes me feel better.

"Why? Are you feeling paranoid?"

"Yeah ever since I got here."

"The last time you were here you went through a lot. Maybe you skipped the whole paranoia stage because you left here and went to Colorado."

"But why would it matter where I was?"

"Maybe in Colorado your mind felt safe. Then when you got here, your mind switched and was on the look out again like at the camp."

"How did you get rid of it?"

"My foster parents, Sam and Jan, took me to a doctor to try to get rid of the fear. But Jake, you don't need a doctor. It's a mind over matter situation. Just don't let your mind get the best of you."

"Easier said then done."

"Yeah, but you can handle it."

I hope so.

"Can I ask you another question?"

"Absolutely"

"Do you have nightmares about the camp."

"Yeah. I had a recurring one about the day that Clay was trying to kill me, but in the dream I didn't get saved. It was just my mind trying to sort through the trauma."

"Yeah probably"

"So. You're having nightmares about the camp."

"Yeah. I had one last night about the night Lily gave me that scarf and kissed me. She kept turning into Stacey and then the closet started filling up with water and something hard hit me in the head."

"Your mind is probably doing the same thing mine did. Sorting through the trauma. I mean not only did you go through the camp, but you fell off a boat. That's probably where the water came from. And when you fell you most likely hit your head since you got amnesia. That's probably where the whole getting hit in the head thing in your nightmare came from."

Trevor was actually making sense. I guess I was to freaked out to calmly sort through my nightmare and try to figure out the meaning of it.

"Yeah you're probably right. I'm making to big of a deal about it."

"Don't worry. You'll be alright Jake."

We sat in silence for the next couple of minutes until I decided to break it.

"How are things going with Porsha?"

"Great, actually. I've never really had a girlfriend before so it's new to me."

"You're happy though, right?"

"Yeah, definitely. What about you and Stacey?"

I knew Trevor would find out eventually about Stacey having nightmares. He was also one person I knew who would understand.

"Things were perfect until I called Stacey this morning."

"Why? What did you do?"

"Nothing. Stacey's having nightmares again. Like the ones her and Porsha had about us."

"Oh, man. How is she doing?"

"Well, she has been through this more than enough times so she can handle it. It's just the figuring out the nightmare part that scares her."

"If you guys need help know that me and Porsha are there for you guys."

"Thanks man. Stacey is actually at Porsha's house right now talking to her about it. We're going to meet up somewhere afterwards."

I was at Trevor's house for about forty five minutes. I decided it was time for me to go so me and Stacey could meet up.

"Call me if you need anything."

"I will, see you later."

"Bye, Jacob."

After talking to Trevor I realized that he was right. The nightmare was just my mind dealing with what I went through here. The same with the paranoia. It was a mind over matter thing. I couldn't keep running from it, I had to face it.

After leaving Trevor's, I called Stacey to see where we would meet up. She is probably still at Porsha's. Porsha lived about five minutes down the road from Trevor.

Ring!

Ring!

Ring!

She answered.

"Hey"

"Hey, I just left Trevor's house. Are you still at Porsha's?"

"Yeah I was waiting on you here to call to tell me you were done. Where do you want to meet up?"

"Uh…want to go back to my dorm?"

"That's a good idea since Amber text me earlier and told me PJ was coming over to our room and that If I wanted to go in there I would have to pay."

I laughed.

"Well, it sounds like we'll be alone. Listen, stay at Porsha's. I'm already half way there, we can walk back to the dorms together."

"Okay, I'll see you in a minute."

"Okay, bye."

I hung up.

When I arrived at Porsha's house, Stacey was sitting on the porch on the swing.

"You ready?" I asked her.

"Yeah, lets go."

"Are you hungry? Because if you are we can stop by that burger place and bring it back to my room."

"Yeah that sounds good."

The burger place was right across the street from the college. It was a cheap place so most college students go to eat there. We both got a burger combo and headed back to the dorms. Luckily we didn't have to carry the food upstairs since my room was on the ground floor. If we did most of the food would most likely be gone.

I opened the door and we walked in.

"Sorry it's so messy. PJ doesn't believe in cleaning. He says it messes up his aura."

"Yeah, Amber uses that excuse when she doesn't feel like cleaning her side of the room."

I sat on my bed and motioned for Stacey to sit next to me. We got our food out of the bags and started to eat.

After taking a bite out of a French fry Stacey asked, "How did it go at Trevor's?"

"It went well. He said he went through the same thing when he got out of the camp."

"See, I told you. You're not crazy."

"I was beginning to think I was. I just have to control my mind. That's the only way it'll go away."

"You'll get through it. What did you need to talk to me about this morning when you called?"

"Oh, I just had a dream about the camp and I needed someone to talk to about it."

"You could have talked to me. I could've been late for class."

"No I wasn't going to do that. You have enough on your plate. Besides when I went to Trevor's I talked to him about that too. It's all good now."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah"

We finished eating and I decided we needed to talk about the giant elephant in the room.

"So, did Porsha help you with this nightmare?"

"Yeah she helped calm me down. She also made me some tea to help my head."

"Still no idea what it all means?"

"Nope. Not a clue."

Stacey looked down at the bed. I could tell she was worried. Having someone's life in your hands isn't the easiest thing to deal with. I moved my hand under her chin and lifted her head up.

"Stacey look at me. You have more than enough people to help you out. Don't worry."

I leaned forward and kissed her on her lips. I pulled away and brushed the strand of hair that had fallen on her face away.

"At least I know I'll be having the nightmare every night," she said , "That's always a good thing."

She paused and then said, "Wow that sounds a little backwards."

"Yeah it does."

We laughed and I pulled her towards me and kissed her again. She wrapped her arms around my neck and I moved my hands to the small of her back. Our kissing became more intense and she moved her hands to cup my face. I moved my left hand under her knee and lifted her up onto my lap. I started moving my hands up and down her back.

My phone vibrated in my back pocket which meant I got a text. I ignored it and moved my lips to the nape of her neck. Then Stacey's phone on the table started vibrating.

"I think someone is trying to get in touch with us," said Stacey.

"They can wait," I said.

I twisted my body down to the right so that Stacey was laying under me on the bed. She pulled my face down to hers and started kissing me. She moved her hands up and down my back which felt really good. I moved one of my hands to her leg when all of a sudden I felt my phone vibrating again.

I broke our kiss and said, "Damn!"

"Just ignore it," said Stacey as she reached up and kissed me.

I then moved my lips back down to her neck. She kept one hand on my back and moved the other behind my neck.

Then Stacey's phone vibrated again.

"I'm just going to see who it is," she said.

While I was kissing her neck, Stacey reached over to the table and picked up her cell phone.

A second later she said, "Jacob."

"What," I said between kisses.

"The text are from PJ."

"So."

"So, he says he is right outside the door and can hear us and also says that you are his boy, Mac Daddy."

I stopped and yelled to PJ, "PJ!"

Outside of the door I heard, "Hey man! Don't worry about me! Keep doing what you're doing. Don't let me interrupt!"

"You already did!" I yelled.

I looked back at Stacey who was still below me and asked, "I thought you said he was at your dorm?"

"That's what I thought."

"Well, that was quick."

We both looked at each other and laughed at the innuendo I just made accidentally. I lifted myself off of Stacey and help her off the bed.

"I guess I better go," she said.

"Let me walk you back to your dorm," I said.

"Okay," she said.

We walked towards the door and I opened it letting PJ in.

"You guys get dressed fast," he said.

"PJ, we didn't do anything," said Stacey.

"Yeah. Sure." he said.

"Look I'm going to walk Stacey back to her dorm. I'll be back in a little bit."

I took Stacey's hand and was about to walk out of the door when PJ grabbed my arm.

"Hang on man."

"What?" I said.

"High five!" he said as he raised his hand up for me to hit.

I rolled my eyes.

"Bye PJ," Stacey said.

"Can't a guy give props to his boy."

That was the last thing me and Stacey heard before shutting the door in PJ's face.


	7. Trevor's Plea

**Disclaimer: I am not writing this as my own. All characters and ideas belong to Laurie faria Stolarz**

Stacey POV

"Thanks for walking me home," I said to Jacob.

We were in front of my dorm building.

"Your welcome," he said as he stroked my cheek with his hand, "Please don't worry about this Stacey."

"I'll try."

"Call me when you wake up in the morning."

"First thing."

He leaned into me and kissed me. After our quick kiss, I wrapped my arms around him and gave him a hug. While I was holding him, I closed my eyes and took in the warmth of his body. His lemongrass scent radiated off of him. I didn't want to let go of him, but I knew I had to. I pulled away from him and gave him one last kiss.

"Be careful walking home," I told him while looking into his slate blue eyes.

"I will," he said, "I'll see you tomorrow."

"Bye."

"Bye Stacey."

I stood there by the door and watched him as he walked away into the darkness of the night. Even though Jacob told me that Trevor reassured him about his paranoia, I knew he was still very scared inside. I just hope that one day he will be able to somehow forget the memories that he has about the camp. The only problem is that I don't know if that's possible. But even though he's still going through some things, he still seems to find it in his heart to help me.

I know that Jacob cares about me, but sometimes I wonder if he will ever tell me he loves me again. I know that he remembers telling me before his accident but that doesn't mean he feels the same way now. I never stopped loving Jacob and I hope somewhere deep inside he never stopped loving me either.

I walked up the steps leading to the doorway and opened the door. A lot of people were still up but I didn't talk to them.

I knew Amber and Janie were in our room waiting on me to come through the door. They obviously took me being able to handle the nightmares to heart since my phone didn't blow up from text messages all day. Also Amber did participate in a love fest with PJ earlier.

Amber and Janie seem to be taking this better than last year. I think it's because I'm able to handle it better. I reached our door and turned the doorknob and walked into our room. They were both sitting on their beds doing some homework.

"Hey," Janie said as she put her binder down, "How are you doing?"

"Good. My head doesn't really hurt anymore."

"So…you're really not scared of this whole thing happening again?" asked Amber.

"No. I don't have time to be scared of it. I have to figure it out and help whoever needs it."

"Wow! I'm proud of you. Usually you act like a zombie and let it take over your life. But now you're not letting it," said Amber.

"Yeah, last year you kind of freaked me out when you did that," said Janie, "It wasn't healthy."

"You two seem to be handling it better than you did last year, too. You even invited PJ over the same day you found out about my nightmares, Amber."

"Well you seemed to be alright and I'm sorry but a girl has needs that need to be filled and only PJ could fill mine."

"At least you warned us," said Janie.

"True that," I said.

"So Stacey give us the low down. Who's dying, how are they dying, and who's going to do it?" said Amber.

"Amber!" Janie and I said simultaneously.

"What?. After years of this happening I'm just going to be straight forward with it."

"You could at least be a little less blunt about it," said Janie, "Someone's life is at stake."

"Girl my middle name is blunt."

Amber and Janie went back and forth a couple more times until I said, "I can't answer your question anyway."

"Why? Usually after the first nightmare you have some sort of clue," said Amber.

"I know but this time it's different. I just hear her. I don't see her or what's hurting her."

"Well that sucks!" said Amber.

"I know," I said.

"Stacey why don't you just tell us about your nightmare," asked Janie.

I sat on my bed and told the story about my nightmare once again to Amber and Janie. When I was finished, both of them had a confused look on their face.

"So…what are you guy's takes on it?" I asked.

"It's…bland." said Janie.

"And random." said Amber.

"Yeah, I know."

"Well at least you know you'll have the nightmare again," said Janie, "It's something to look forward to."

"Yeah, I mean nightmares for you are the keys to the secret," Amber said in her Darth Vader voice.

As strange as it sounded, they were right. I've learned over the years that the way to figure the nightmares out is to keep dreaming them. Listening to them is another way to figure them out. If I do those two things no one should get hurt. A big emphasis on the should part.

After our conversation I was really tired. Today was a long day. I changed out of my clothes and into my pajamas and said goodnight to the girls. I went to sleep hoping that I would dream the nightmare again.

I'm standing in the middle of the woods. I can see the light through the trees. I start to walk towards it. Maybe this time I can figure out for sure what it is. I can still smell burning wood. I'm still trying to walk towards the light when I hear the muffled breathing. I look around and see if I can tell where it's coming from.

All of a sudden, I hear the woman scream, "Help! You don't understand! This isn't what I wanted!"

I want to find out where the breathing is coming from but I have to get to the woman so I can help her. I start running towards the scream but just like last time, I go nowhere.

The woman screams again and I try with everything I have to get to her but I can't. I stop running and try to figure out another way to get to her. I look to my left and I see a clearing in the woods. It's not big but maybe it'll help me get to the woman.

I push some branches aside to get to the clearing. I can still hear the woman screaming but she actually sounds closer. When I step over a tree trunk to get into the clearing, I see a guy standing in it. I run to him and put my hand on his shoulder and turn him around.

It's Trevor.

"Trevor! You have to help me! We have to save the woman!"

He does nothing but stare at me.

"Don't you hear her!"

This time he speaks to me.

"I have to tell you something."

"Tell me later! We have to help her!"

"I have to tell you something."

I wonder if he can hear her. She's practically screaming at the top of her lungs. He has to hear her.

"Trevor come on! Help me!"

I reach for his hand put he pulls it away.

"I have to tell you something."

I realize Trevor isn't going to help me. I run behind Trevor and push some branches out of the way. If I can make it through these trees I might be able to get to the woman. The branches are really heavy and I'm having a hard time moving them out of the way so I can go through them. After about ten seconds I realize there is no way I'm going to be able to move the branches so I turn around to see if Trevor can at least help me move them.

"Trevor can you help me move these branches!" I say as I turn around.

But when I do, no one is there.

Trevor is gone.

I start to cry and run out of the clearing the way I entered it. The woman is still screaming. I stop and try to find the light again but when I turn around to look deeper into the woods something hard hits me in the head. I hit the ground. Then just like last time I can't move. I scream out thinking maybe Trevor is still in the woods and can help me.

"Trevor!"

"Help me!"

No one comes. All I can do is lay there and cry and listen to the woman scream at the top of her lungs.

I open my eyes.

I'm laying in my bed.

My head is killing me just like yesterday when I woke up. I sit up and put my head in my hands. After about a minute, I looked at the clock on my phone. It read 7:28. I turned off the alarm since it would go off in two minutes and I didn't want to wake Janie and Amber. I laid back down. I know that I need to get up and start getting ready but my head is killing me. I wish I had a way to make the tea Porsha made because if I did I could drink a whole pot of it right about now.

I then remembered that I told Jacob I would call him as soon as I woke up. So I sat up again and reached for my phone.

I dialed his number.

Ring!

Ring!

Ring!

"Hey," Jacob said in a sleepy voice.

"Hey. Are you sure you still want me to call you when I wake up. You sound pretty sleepy."

"No, I'm good. Did you have a nightmare?"

"Yeah I did."

"Anything new?"

"Yeah, Trevor was in it."

"Trevor?"

"Yeah, I found him in a clearing in the woods and I tried to get him to help me save the woman but all he kept saying was that he needed to tell me something."

There was a pause on the other end like he was thinking.

"That's really strange."

"Yeah it was. Ow!"

I rubbed my head to hard with the palm of my hand.

"I take it your head is still hurting when you wake up. Are you okay?"

"I'm fine. Don't worry about it."

"Well on a good note, I was thinking maybe we could all eat dinner tonight in the cafeteria. You know update everyone."

"Yeah that will be good."

"Alright, I'll let everyone know so don't worry about it."

"Okay, thanks."

"I'll see you later."

"Okay, bye."

I hung up.

I decided not to wake up the girls since I would be able to tell them later tonight at dinner. I grabbed my shower supplies and a change of clothes and headed towards the bathroom. There was hardly anyone in there so I was able to get into a shower right away. I turned the hot water on and let it fall over my head. I was definitely going to have to ask Porsha to make me some of that tea. I washed myself and my hair and got out and changed clothes.

I walked out of the bathroom and headed back towards our room. I quietly made my way back into the room since Amber and Janie were still sleeping. I put a little make up on and grabbed my stuff and headed towards the dorm lobby. I bought a protein bar out of the snack machine for breakfast.

Then I started walking towards the building where my class was held at. As I was walking, I thought about my nightmare. Everything was kind of the same as the night before except the fact that Trevor was there. What was he doing there? What would he have to do with anything? And more importantly what did he have to tell me?

It didn't take me long before I arrived at the building. I had about ten minutes to spare so I waited outside on a bench. I was staring up at the sky watching the clouds when I saw Tim walking towards me.

"Hey Stacey," he said with his trademark smile.

"Morning Tim."

"Your head still hurt?"

He noticed again that I was rubbing my head which still hurt a little.

I decided I was going to confide in him about the situation. I mean he already knew about my nightmares and the more people I had to help me the better.

"Yeah it's because I'm having nightmares again."

"Oh, man that sucks."

He sat down on the bench next to me.

"Who are they about?"

"I don't know yet."

"If I can do anything to help, I will."

"Thanks Tim."

"No problem."

"We better get to class."

"Yeah, lets go."

He helped me up and carried my book bag to the classroom even though I told him not to. I still think he has a crush on me. But he's a good guy and he respects my relationship with Jacob.

He sat my bag down next to my desk and walked to the other side of the room to his.

I was getting my notebook out of my bag when I heard someone say, "He sure does act like your boyfriend."

I looked up.

It was the girl that sat next to me.

"He's just a really nice guy."

She smiled at me and said, "My name is Chelsea."

"Hi, I'm Stacey," I said as I reached out and shook her hand, "Did you go here last year because I don't recognize you?"

"Actually I didn't. I transferred here from Rhode Island."

"Oh okay."

We talked small talk until Professor Wilkes came in. I didn't think the class could have gotten any more boring but it did. I also didn't think it would ever end so when it did I was truly grateful. I told Chelsea and Tim bye before I left to go to my next class. I really didn't want to deal with classes anymore so when 3:00 finally arrived I was relieved.

Jacob text me during my Literature class and told me everyone was going to meet at the cafeteria at 3:30 so I decided to go back to our room to freshen up a bit.

When I got there, Janie and Amber were talking about Janie's new guy.

"At least my guy's hot!" said Janie.

"PJ is good looking!"

"Yeah if you like a guy's hair to look like a glow stick."

"Hey guys," I said as I put my stuff down next to my bed.

"Hey Stacey," said Janie.

"So I take it you met Janie's guy," I said to Amber.

"Yeah, and he's a loser!"

"You said he was a fine piece of ass when I showed him to you," said Janie.

"That was before I met him," said Amber.

"What did he do to you when you met him?" I asked.

"Nothing"

"So…what's the problem?" I asked.

"Amber's mad because she thought he was hot and he didn't try to hit on her," said Janie.

"That's what you two are arguing about!" I said.

"He didn't even pay me any attention. He just stared at Janie the whole time." Amber said.

"Maybe because Jared likes me!" said Janie.

"She does got a point Amber," I said.

"Usually I get all the attention from guys. But not from Jared! "

"Maybe guys give you attention because they can't help from looking at your crazy hair and your costume make up!"

"No, it's because I'm irresistible!"

"Yeah, I'm sure that's it!" said Janie, "Why do you even want attention from other guys? You have PJ!"

"Yeah but a girl needs a self esteem boost every once in a while!" said Amber.

They were now standing up face to face yelling at each other.

"That's enough!" I yelled.

They both fell silent.

"We have less than twenty five minutes to get ready and meet Jacob and PJ at the cafeteria. Can you two stop arguing like twelve year olds and get ready?" I said.

"Fine," said Janie.

"Whatever," said Amber.

I didn't want this fight to carry on any longer so I pulled out my motherly instincts and said, "Now. Apologize to each other."

"What?" said Amber.

"You were both just acting like a twelve year old now I'm going to treat you like one," I said.

Janie crossed her arms and waited for Amber.

"Fine…mother," Amber said as she turned to face Janie.

"I'm sorry I made fun of you and got mad about your dumb ass guy friend not hitting on me."

"And I'm sorry I made fun of PJ and your ugly ass hair and make up."

Their apologies made not have sounded very apologetic but for Janie and Amber that was as good as it was going to get. All three of us changed and got ready for dinner. After about fifteen minutes we were all ready.

"Let's roll my peeps," said Amber.

With that we all left the room and made our way to the cafeteria to meet the boys.


	8. Broken

**Disclaimer: I am not writing this as my own. All characters and ideas belong to Laurie faria Stolarz**

Jacob POV

When I got back from walking Stacey home, I was really tired. A lot had happened through out the course of the day. I didn't feel like talking to PJ about him catching me with Stacey so I waited out in the lobby until he left the room to take a shower. As soon as he closed the bathroom door, I jumped up from the couch and went straight to our room. I changed clothes and got in my bed and hoped that I would fall asleep before PJ got back.

Ring!

Ring!

Ring!

I forgot I told Stacey to call me right when she got up, so when my phone rang at 7:30 I was still asleep. The sound of the ringing woke me up and I reached over to my table to grab my phone. As soon as I read Stacey on the caller I.D., I remembered I told her to call me when she woke up. I immediately answered the phone. Stacey told me she had another nightmare and that Trevor had made an appearance.

It confused me because Trevor didn't and shouldn't have anything to do with her nightmares. I decided I would call Trevor later on in the day to tell him.

Her nightmares were always strange but this one was just plain confusing. Nothing really fit together or made sense.

While I was listening to Stacey, I started to think maybe our friends needed to be updated. The more people that know and can help the better. I told Stacey that the whole gang should meet up in the cafeteria for dinner tonight since it was Friday. She agreed and I told her that I would tell everyone.

After we told each other bye, I hung up and went back to sleep.

Beep!

Beep!

Beep!

I reached for my phone and turned the alarm off. I got out of bed and looked for my shower supplies.

"PJ," I said, "You up man?"

"Yep. At least it's Friday. I'm tired of waking up this early."

I was about to walk out of the room when I remembered I needed to tell PJ about dinner tonight.

"Do you want to get together and eat at the cafeteria tonight?"

"How could I say no to your offer for our first date. And the cafeteria of all places. You know me to well."

I smiled and said, "I'm not that cheap. But no I'm talking about everyone meeting up. You, me, and the girls."

"Yeah, man, that would be cool."

"Okay. Uh, could you tell Amber and get her to tell Janie?"

"Yeah, I'll text Amber later."

"Cool. I'm going to get in the shower."

I left the room and headed towards the bathroom. I took a shower and shaved and went back to the room. I changed and grabbed my books and walked to class.

Luckily, throughout the entire day I didn't have any sense of paranoia. PJ text me during my English class that Amber and Janie were coming to dinner.

We decided to all meet in the cafeteria at 3:30. My last class ended ten minutes before that so I didn't have time to go back to the dorm. While I was walking to the cafeteria, I decided to call Trevor to tell him about his appearance in Stacey's dream.

The phone rang about two times before he answered, "Hello?"

"Hey Trevor, it's me Jacob."

"Oh, hey man. What's up?"

"Nothing. I just wanted to tell you that my girlfriend has been dreaming about you."

"Well, I am a pretty attractive guy Jacob. I'm sure you'll understand."

"Yeah, you wish. But Stacey had another nightmare and you were in it. Sorry man but it looks like you're caught up in this now."

He sighed and asked, "What did I do in this nightmare?"

"You acted strange and told her you had something to tell her."

"Well, that's not confusing in any way."

I was now in front of the cafeteria so I thought I better wrap things up with Trevor.

"Yeah, I know. Look man, I got to go but I'll keep you updated."

"Okay. See you later."

"Alright, bye."

I hung up and put my phone in my pocket and walked into the cafeteria. Once I was in I looked around to see where everyone was sitting.

PJ, Amber, Janie, and Stacey were sitting in the far left corner in the back. Good thing to since a lot of people were starting to come in. I don't think if any of them overheard what we were going to talk about they would consider us sane anymore. I walked to the table and sat down next to Stacey.

"Hey," she said.

"Hey," I said back to her as I gave her a quick kiss.

"Okay since everyone's here can we eat now?" said Amber.

"Yeah, come on," Stacey said.

We all got in the Chinese line and ordered egg rolls, noodles, and rice. After we got our food, we all went back to our table.

"So, what's this meeting about Jacob?" asked Janie.

"It's about Stacey's nightmares," I said.

"I think we all know she's having them again. We didn't need to have a meeting about it, even though this Chinese food is banging," said Amber.

"Well I figured if we all got updated about her nightmares occasionally, it would be faster to figure them out," I said.

"Yeah, you guys know how confusing they are," said Stacey, "The more people that help me the faster this can be over."

"So you want us to be like a nightmare squad or something?" said Amber.

"Like Ghostbusters!" said PJ.

"Kind of," I said.

"How can we help?" said Janie, "Stacey's the one having nightmares, not us."

I looked at Stacey and she nodded her head telling me that I could take Janie's question.

"Well, you know, you guys can help watch out for anyone acting suspicious. Or overhear someone talking about going into the woods or meeting someone strange."

"So you're asking us to eavesdrop?" said Amber.

"Yes. Exactly," said Stacey.

"Cool! I'm actually getting permission to force myself in other people's business," said Amber.

"Amber," said Janie, "You do it when you don't have permission."

"Yeah, but this time I don't have to hear you and Stacey complain about it."

"So you all are okay with this?" I asked as I looked around the table.

"If it helps Stacey, then sure," said Janie.

"I'm in," said Amber.

I looked at PJ for his response.

"If I want to where a jumpsuit with a vacuum on my back, can I?" he asked.

"Uh, sure, yeah," I said.

"Well count me in then!" he said.

"Since we're like the mystery gang now, is there anything new?" asked Janie.

Everyone looked at Stacey.

"Well, I had the nightmare again last night, but it was pretty much the same except for one thing," she said.

"What's the one thing?" asked PJ.

"Trevor was in it and he kept saying he had to tell me something," she said.

"Trevor?" said Amber, "You mean Jacob's friend Trevor?"

"Yeah him," she said.

"Well did you tell Trevor about him being in your nightmare?" said Janie.

Stacey didn't know that I told Trevor about him being in her nightmare so I spoke up to tell them.

"Yeah, he knows. I was on the phone with him while I was on my way here," I said.

Stacey looked at me and said, "Well? What did he say."

"He said he didn't know what it was about, and he asked me to keep him updated."

"This whole thing just got a little more confusing," said Amber.

We sat and talked about the nightmare some more and finished our food. Since it was officially the beginning of the weekend, we all decided to go next door into the Campus Hangout. It was a place where students could go and relax and hang with friends. There were also video games and a snack bar which made its appeal even more stronger. Amber and PJ went over to the video game area to see who could land the highest score on Pac-Man. Janie saw some of her friends she met in her literature class and decided to go hang out with them.

It was just me, Stacey, and a big comfy couch in the corner. Just the way Stacey and I like it. I took Stacey's hand and led her to the couch. I sat on the end and she sat next to me and laid her head on my shoulder. I wrapped my arm around her.

"This is nice," she said.

"Yeah, it is," I said.

Stacey and I hardly get to just sit and enjoy each other's company, so when we do get the chance it's really nice. I was running my hand through her hair when I remembered something. During my history class, I remember some guy named John saying that The Killers were coming to town and that tickets were on sale. The Killers are one of Stacey's favorite bands so I decided to mention it to her.

"The Killers are coming to town," I said.

She lifted her head up and said, "Really? We should go. It'd be fun."

"Yeah it would. I'll call around and see how much the tickets are. I promise we'll go."

She smiled and leaned in and kissed me.

"You know," she said as she put her head back on my shoulder, "Even though my nightmares are back, I'm kind of happy."

I looked down at her and gave her a confused look.

"Why?" I asked.

"I'm not happy my nightmares are back. It sucks that I have to go through this again, and that if I don't figure them out someone will get hurt. But on the other hand, I'm really happy. I have you back."

I knew what she meant. I felt like I was finally back. I felt just like her. Even though I'm going through this paranoia thing, I feel happy. I just get this feeling everything's going to be okay when I'm around Stacey.

We sat on the couch in each other's arms until we heard Amber yell, "Hey lovebirds! You want to play a game of pool with us?"

I've found that I'm actually good at pool but I wasn't going to play unless Stacey wanted to play.

"You want to?" I asked her.

She got up off the couch and stood in front of me and held her hand out for me to take.

"I have to warn you," she said, "I suck."

I took her hand and stood up beside her.

"Well that's okay because I don't ," I said.

I put my arm around her waist and led her towards the area where the pool tables were. We started to play as a team against PJ and Amber. I don't even remember how many times we played. It turns out Stacey wasn't exaggerating about her sucking at pool, but I didn't tell her that. PJ and Amber took over the role of telling her.

We just finished a game, when Joe, the guy that worked at the counter, told us that the hangout was going to close at 9:00.

"Okay, thanks," said PJ.

"What time is it," Amber asked.

I took my phone out of my pocket and looked at the screen.

"It's 8:45," I said.

"We're not going to have time to play another game," Stacey said.

"Like it would matter anyways." said Amber, "You and Jacob only won three games out of the thousands that we played."

"Thanks Amber," Stacey said.

"No problem," Amber said as she slapped Stacey on the butt.

"Well, you guys ready to go then?" I asked.

"Yeah but where's Janie?" Stacey asked.

"She text me about twenty minutes ago and said she went with some chick named Anna to some other chick's dorm," said Amber.

"Okay, I guess we are ready to go then," Stacey said.

"Do you want me and PJ to walk you guys home?" I asked.

"No, me and Amber will be okay," she said.

"Yeah, blue eyes," Amber said, "We can take care of ourselves."

"We'll text you when we get back to the dorm," said Stacey.

"Alright. Be careful," I said as I gave Stacey a hug and a kiss.

I looked around to find PJ.

"PJ! We're leaving!"

"Yeah, and you better get your ass over here so you can give me a kiss!" Amber said.

Just then PJ came around the corner.

"I'm coming," he said, "I was just getting a ring pop."

"Well we're leaving," I said.

I hugged Stacey goodbye while Amber and PJ kissed like they were never going to see each other again.

"Please be careful," I told Stacey.

"We will," she said.

She gave me a quick kiss and walked out of the door with Amber.

I turned to PJ and asked, "You ready?"

"Yes sir," he said as he saluted like he was in the military.

We walked back to our dorm and realized everyone was out of their rooms hovering around the door to our room. I looked at PJ and he shrugged. I was just about to ask what was going on when James made his way through the crowd of people towards us. James is a student at Beacon and lives in the room next to ours. I've only talked to him a couple of times but he seems like a pretty nice guy.

"What's going on?" I asked him.

"Yeah, is there a party going on we didn't know about?" asked PJ.

"We think somebody broke into your room," he said.

As soon as James said that, I got an eerie feeling.

"Ah man!" PJ said.

I tried to stay calm and not freak out.

"What do you mean you think" I asked.

"Well, I was getting my laptop out when I heard glass shattering. I ran out of my room and everyone said it came from your room. We didn't know you guys were gone. I knocked on the door and then I tried to open it. It was locked. We didn't know what happened so I called campus police."

Great. Another check point on the this is why Jacob's life is a living hell list.

"Thanks James," I said.

PJ and I walked past James towards our room. Once we got through the people, we made it inside of our room. Standing in the middle was a campus police officer.

"Is this your room boys?" he asked.

"Yes sir," I said.

PJ started looking around the room to see if anything was taken.

"You probably know by now that your room was broken into or at least that's what it looks like. I need to ask you guys some questions."

"Nothing of mine is missing," PJ interrupted.

"That was one of my questions. What about you son? Anything missing?" the police officer asked me.

I moved around the room and pointed out the things that a thief would most likely take but nothing was missing. My laptop, my watch, and the money I had stashed away was all there.

"No sir," I said, "Everything's here."

"Well this is weird," said PJ, "Who breaks into a dorm room and doesn't take anything?"

Just then I noticed that the window was broken and glass was all over mine and PJ's bed. That must have made the noise James heard.

"Do you know how the window was broken?" I asked.

"Probably by a rock or a heavy object," the policeman said.

"No shit," said PJ under his breath where only I could hear.

I looked around the floor to see if I could spot a rock or anything that could break a window. There was wasn't anything on the floor of that sort.

"When did this happen?" PJ asked.

"About an hour ago," he said, "A kid names James called it in."

I sat on my bed and put my head in my hands. I did not need this right now.

"Look, I don't think anyone broke into your room deliberately," the policeman said.

"What? You think someone accidentally broke the window?" said PJ.

"That's exactly what I think. It's Friday night and it's the first weekend of college. Kids are dumb. Somebody was probably running around acting stupid and accidentally broke your window. I've seen it happen before. Plus, you boys both said nothing of yours was missing."

"Why wouldn't they just tell somebody that it was an accident," said PJ.

"Because they don't want to get in trouble and have to tell mommy and daddy that they have to pay a big fine for obstruction of school property."

"He's got a point Jacob," said PJ.

I didn't want to talk to the policeman anymore so I just said, "Yeah, your probably right."

"We'll send someone to fix your window tomorrow, but I recommend putting a blanket or something over the window for tonight."

"Yeah we will," I said.

"Alright, take care."

With that he walked out of the door and I got up and closed the door behind him. I didn't want to talk to every guy at Beacon University about what happened. I walked back over to my bed and sat down.

"So, what do you really think about this?" asked PJ as he sat opposite me on his bed.

"I don't think it was an accident if that's what you're asking."

"Maybe it was. You never know. Some dumb ass might have been drunk and threw something and broke the window and was to big of a coward to tell anyone."

"I understand how that could happen…to someone else. But not me. Things like this don't happen to me for no reason."

I could tell PJ was trying to understand where I was coming from and I appreciated that.

"Okay….lets say someone deliberately broke the window to get in here. Why didn't they take anything? I mean our laptops were out, your watch was out, and all of my hair dye was out. What not take anything?"

"Well maybe they didn't find anything to take. Plus, I highly doubt they would take your hair dye."

"Hey! That stuff is expensive! Besides you get my point."

"It just doesn't make sense."

"What do you mean? Someone broke the window. How does that not make sense?"

"Because PJ. If someone accidentally threw something and hit our window, where is the something they threw?"

I could tell this thought had just entered PJ's head.

"I don't know?"

"See, so the someone accidentally threw something theory is out."

PJ was almost on my side but the few brain cells he does have tried to make sense of the situation again.

"I don't know man! Shit happens! Yes it usually happens to you but shit still happens!"

"I don't think so."

"Look, you've been through hell. I get it. But you can't keep thinking like this. It'll drive you crazy!"

I understood where PJ was coming from. To anyone else, the window being accidentally broken was a good explanation. But not me. This can't be all in my mind. I was willing to listen to Trevor and Stacey and believe that the paranoia was all in my mind. But I can't accept this being all in my mind.

Just then my phone vibrated in my pocket. I pulled it out. It was a text from Stacey saying that her and Amber had made it home. I didn't want to tell Stacey about the break-in but I knew she would find out sooner or later. I decided I was going to call her instead of texting her.

"I'm going to go take a shower and maybe hoard off the guys standing in the hallway around our door," said PJ.

"Alright," I said.

I dialed Stacey's number and waited for her to answer. I was really starting to question whether I would be able to handle all of this.


	9. Helpful Tim

**I haven't got many reviews so the only way I will continue writing Connected is if I get reviews. So if you are interested in my story PLEASE LEAVE REVIEWS! THANKS!**

**Disclaimer: I am not writing this as my own. All characters and ideas belong to Laurie faria Stolarz**

Stacey POV

Last night Jacob called me right after I text him. He told me about the break-in and about how he thinks that someone deliberately broke his window and snuck around his room. At first it was surreal. It reminded me of the times in the past when I had my nightmares and felt someone following me but I didn't tell Jacob that. Something is starting not to feel right. I know I've told Jacob that his paranoia is normal and that there is nothing to worry about but now I'm not so sure. I've been able to sense things since I was little. I got it from my grandma. Now I am sensing that something isn't right. I just feel extremely stressed out about the whole situation. I mean for one I'm having confusing nightmares again. Secondly, Jacob's paranoia may be for real and not all in his mind. I don't know anymore.

As much as I want to I can't focus on Jacob's paranoia and its meaning. I have to focus on my nightmares and figure them out and help whoever needs it. I realized then that I didn't have a nightmare last night. They're not going to be consistent. That's great and helpful

I sighed and looked over at the clock on Amber's dresser. It's 9:30. Thank God for weekends. I don't know what I would do without them.

Janie had got up early to go jogging with one of her new friends. She invited Amber and I but we both opt out of that. I got out of bed and grabbed my clothes quietly since Amber was asleep and went to the bathroom to take a shower. I had to get up and get going because I had an essay due Monday for history. Tim and I decided to help each other out with our essays so we were going to meet each other at the library a little after ten.

I took a shower and dried my hair and walked back to the room. When I opened the door Amber was sitting up in her bed.

"Morning sugar butt," she said as she yawned.

"Good morning Amber," I said.

"So you still meeting Mr. Abercrombie at the library?"

"No, I'm meeting Fitch."

"Oh so you have a little smart ass in you this morning. I like it."

"Yeah I wonder who I got it from?"

"I know who. She's pretty damn hot if you ask me."

"Yeah I hear she's kind of a bitch too."

"That's my girl!"

Only Amber.

"What are you doing today?" I asked.

"I'm going to hang out with my man and maybe get some lovin'. You know let nature take its course."

"I'm sorry I asked."

I ran a brush through my hair and grabbed my books and headed towards the door.

"See you later," I said.

"Remember, no sex, no drugs, no alcohol."

"What?"

"Just go."

"Okay?" I said as I closed the door.

I made my way over to the library. I was going to call Jacob but I decided against it since I was so close to the library. I'll just call him later.

I opened the library door and immediately spotted Tim at one of the tables. He already had the books he needed for his essay laid out on the table. So before I walked over to him, I went and found some books on the French Revolution to use for my essay. There weren't many to choose from so I just grabbed two and made my way towards the table where Tim was sitting. He was reading from one of the books so he didn't see me walking towards the table.

I sat the books down and said, "Hey."

He jumped like I had startled him.

"Stacey! You scared me."

"I'm sorry I didn't mean to scare you."

"It's cool. I wasn't paying attention."

I sat down across from Tim and opened one of the books.

"French Revolution," he said, "Heads getting chopped off and dethroning. Pretty cool."

"Yeah, well French has never been my best subject but at least it's kind of interesting."

I really don't find anything that has to do with French interesting. Mainly because I found Veronica Leeman dead in Madame Lenore's classroom during high school. But Tim didn't need to know that.

"What topic did you get?" I asked.

"Pearl Harbor."

"That's not too bad."

Just then he looked down at his book and started to tap his pencil. It seemed like something was up.

"Tim, are you okay?"

He lifted his head to look at me.

"You know, right?"

"Know what?"

"About someone breaking into Jacob and PJ's room last night."

"I know."

"So you're not freaking out about it? You're okay?"

I knew Tim meant was I okay with it because of my nightmares, not because of Jacob's safety. So far I didn't think that the event had anything to do with my nightmares. There hadn't been any signs. But I am starting to think it has something to do with Jacob's paranoia. I don't know. Maybe I'm starting to feel paranoid about Jacob's paranoia. I'm officially a whacko.

"Yeah, I'm okay."

"You don't think it's linked to your nightmares do you? Because if something like this happened last year you would have already lost it."

I decided to confide in Tim about all of my suspicions. I couldn't with Jacob because if he knew that I was now starting to question his paranoia after I told him he had nothing to worry about, he would definitely be worse off. I leaned in towards Tim and he did the same by leaning in towards me. I knew we were in the library on the weekend but you never know when some stupid dunce will eavesdrop and go tell the local asylum about what he heard.

"I've only had a couple of nightmares but I don't see a link between them and the break in."

"What were the nightmares about?"

I briefly told Tim about my nightmares.

"Well that's just weird," he said.

"Yeah that's what everyone seems to say."

I felt like Tim was one of my really good friends now so I figured that I would tell him about Jacob.

"Do you mind if I vent?"

"Vent away."

"Jacob has been acting really strange since he got here. He told me that he feels like someone is following him. You know, paranoia."

"That's normal considering what he went through."

"Yeah that's what I thought too. I told him he had nothing to worry about and that he should talk to Trevor."

"Hang on, who's Trevor?"

"Trevor is his friend that he met at the camp."

"Oh ok, go on."

"I figured that maybe Trevor had went through the same thing and that he could help Jacob. You know a trauma phase or something."

"But?"

I looked into Tim's eyes and saw sympathy. He really cared about me and wanted to help.

"But, someone accidentally breaking his window just doesn't feel right."

"What do you mean it doesn't feel right?"

"I've been able to sense things since I was little. Every time I've had a nightmare, my senses have always helped me figure them out. The whole someone accidentally broke the window scenario is throwing me off."

"So you're saying that you think someone broke the window on purpose?"

"No, I'm saying I think someone broke the window to get into that room. I don't know why someone would do that but that's what I'm thinking."

"Have you told Jacob this?"

"No. I can't tell him. He's going through so much right now and I'm not going to egg him on about the paranoia."

"Maybe it would help him."

I shook my head indicating no.

"Maybe I'm being paranoid about his paranoia. I don't know anymore."

I put my hands over my face. I've finally got to the point where I can handle my nightmares and now this is starting up. Tim got up and came and sat down in the chair next to me. He put his hand on my back.

"I'm sorry. I'm just really stressed out right now," I said.

"Don't be sorry."

I took my hands off my face and looked at Tim.

"What?" he said.

"You're a really good guy."

"Yeah, that's what your mom told me."

"Tim!" I said as I pushed his shoulder.

"I'm just trying to make you feel better," he said as he laughed.

"Thanks Tim."

"Anytime. Well, we should get to our essays."

"Yeah, I don't want to be here all day."

We were at the library for about two hours before we finished our essays.

"Well that was hell," said Tim as we both stood up.

"Yeah that was pretty rough."

"Look, I got to go but if you need anything just call me okay?"

"I will," I said as I give him a hug.

We pulled away from each other and when we did Tim had a smirk on his face.

"Bye Stacey."

"Bye."

He put his books back on the shelf and walked towards the door. When he got there he turned around and looked at me and smiled and then continued out the door.

Man does that boy have it bad.

I smiled and picked my books up off the table and returned them to their places.

Even though I slept in this morning, I was kind of tired. I decided I would go back to the room and take a nap just in case anyone wanted to do anything tonight. I would just wait and call Jacob when I woke up.

As I was walking back to the dorm I realized I hadn't called my mom since classes started. My mom knew about my nightmares and my spells. She knew what I was going through while Jacob was gone and sent me to a doctor to see if a professional could help me. It didn't but she tried. I wasn't going to tell her about my nightmares or about Jacob. If I did she would never stop telling me that I should take a break or go see a doctor again. I was just going to tell her some of the truth minus some details. That wasn't necessarily lying. I took my phone out of my bag and dialed her number.

Ring!

Ring!

"Hello?"

"Hey mom."

"Oh hey sweetheart! How's school?"

"Good. My classes aren't too hard."

"That's good Stacey."

She was about to say something but she hesitated. I knew then exactly what she was going to ask.

"How are things with Jacob?"

Some of the truth, minus details.

"It took him some time to get used to it here, but things are really good now."

"I'm so glad to hear that Stacey."

"We're doing good."

"That's great. If you need anything, I'm only a phone call away."

"I know mom, thanks."

"Okay. I love you baby."

"Love you too."

"Bye."

"Bye."

My mom.

She'll never stop worrying.

I put my phone back in my bag and continued on my way to the dorm.

I was so relieved that Amber and Janie weren't in the room because they would never let me sleep. I sat my bag down and took off my shoes and laid in my bed. I looked at the clock to see what time it was. It was a little after twelve. I didn't want to sleep to long so I set my alarm for three just in case I didn't wake up. I then laid back in my bed and closed my eyes.


	10. Calling

**This chapter I'll admit is a little slow but I had to write it because of plot reasons. Things will definitely pick up in the next few chapters! Enjoy and remember, keep reviewing!**

**Disclaimer: I am not writing this as my own. All characters and ideas belong to Laurie faria Stolarz**

Jacob POV

Stacey didn't call me this morning. I guess that means she didn't have a nightmare last night. It's a good thing but also a bad thing. I know the nightmares really stress Stacey out, but the more she has them the closer she is to figuring them out. Maybe she'll call me later. I know she had to go to the library with Tim to work on an essay. Maybe after she does that we can get together and do something since my nerves are shot.

This morning I slept in a little. Last night's events definitely had my nerves going, but thankfully I did get some sleep. Since it's the beginning of fall, the air at night has become cold and crisp. To keep the cold air from coming through our broken window, PJ wanted to put one of his blankets over the window. It would have been fine if the blanket was a normal one and didn't say "Ain't no thing but a g-string on a chicken wing". But It was all we had. Hopefully no one will see it or pay any attention to it, but I highly doubt that.

PJ and I decided to get out of the room and out of the dorm. Every time either of us walks out of our room, someone has to say or ask something about last night. So after we got up, we headed to the cafeteria for lunch. There was hardly anyone in there since it was the weekend.

"What are you getting?" PJ asked as we walked towards the counters.

"Uh, I think I'll just get a sub sandwich with some chips," I said.

I really wasn't in the mood for Italian or Chinese, and I sure didn't want pizza or a hamburger.

"I'm thinking…," he said as he rubbed his chin, "Spaghetti."

It was almost impossible for PJ to pass up spaghetti and meatballs even though most of it usually ended up in his lap. PJ turned and walked towards the Italian counter while I headed over to the sandwich line. We both got our lunches and met back up at a table in the back.

"Man it was cold as hell in our room last night," PJ said.

"Yeah hopefully someone will come and fix it before tonight."

"They probably already forgot about it. I don't think a broken window is at the top of their list," he said as he stuffed a meatball in his mouth.

"Yeah probably."

We sat for a couple of minutes in silence and ate our food.

"So you doing anything with Stacey tonight?"

"I don't know. She hasn't called me today. She usually calls me in the morning if she has a nightmare but she didn't today."

"So where's she at now?"

"She's at the library working on an essay with Tim."

"What!"

"What?"

"You let your girl go on a study date with another guy?"

"They're just friends PJ."

"Yeah maybe to Stacey they are."

"What are you talking about?"

I knew Stacey had met Tim last year and that they became friends, but she never mentioned anything about them once being something more.

"Man! Tim has it bad for Stacey!"

"Well if Stacey felt the same way for him she obviously wouldn't be dating me."

If Stacey felt anything for Tim she wouldn't be with me for sure. I lost my memory for goodness sake. Why would she go through so much and put so much into a relationship that she didn't want?

"Just because Stacey's in love with you isn't going to stop Tim from putting the moves on her. I mean look at the guy. If I was a girl I bang him."

Sometimes I wonder about PJ.

"They're just doing an essay together," I said.

"Or each other!"

"Who's doing each other?" a voice said.

PJ and I turned around to find Amber standing behind us.

"Look who it is!" said PJ.

"Speak of the devil and she shall appear," she said.

"We weren't talking about you," PJ said.

"I know I just always wanted to say that," she said as she sat next to him, "Hey Jake."

"Hey Amber," I said.

"So…?" she said.

"So what?" I said.

"Who's doing who?" she said.

"No-" I started to say but PJ interrupted me.

"Stacey and Tim!"

"No they're not!" said Amber, "They're in the library working on their essays."

"That's what they want you to think," said PJ.

"Stop trying to start stuff," said Amber, "Stacey would never do that to Jacob. Even though Tim is deliciously gorgeous and has a crush on her. She loves you Jake."

That was something I already knew. It doesn't look like Stacey has told anyone about me not telling her I love her. I wasn't worried about this Tim guy. If Stacey wanted to be with him she would have last semester when I was gone. She wouldn't go through this and then just break up with me for some guy.

Just then my phone vibrated. Someone was calling me, and I was hoping it was Stacey.

"See that's probably Stacey now," Amber said punching PJ in the shoulder.

"Damn woman! That hurt!" he said.

I looked at the caller I.D. It was unknown. I don't usually answer those calls since they're probably someone trying to sell you something or ask for money.

"It's unknown," I said.

"They're probably almost done though," said Amber.

"Well Tim can't be that great then," said PJ.

"Will you let it go, man," I said.

"I will try to contain myself for the sake of my woman and my boy," said PJ.

"Thank you!" Amber and I said at the same time.

My phone stopped vibrating and I put it back in my pocket.

"So you guys want to do anything tonight?" PJ asked.

"We could go see a movie," I said.

A movie sounded good right about now. Sitting there in the dark and getting sucked into another reality would do me good.

"Ah," Amber gasped, "We could go on a double date!"

"That's really cheesy!" PJ said.

"No it's not!" said Amber, "It'll be cute and fun and my favorite, dark."

PJ turned to Amber and said, "Okay, I'm in!"

I smiled and shook my head and said, "What about Janie?"

It wouldn't be a double date if someone was left as the third wheel.

"Oh please, she's so busy lately being stuck up her new friend's ass," said Amber, "She won't care if we go without her."

"Okay. I'll call Stacey later and tell her what's up," I said.

Then my phone vibrated again. I looked at it and it said unknown again.

"It's the same person," I said.

"Just answer it and tell them to shove off," said PJ, "That's what I do."

He was right. If I didn't answer it, they would just keep calling.

I answered the phone and said, "Hello?"

No one said anything.

"Is anyone there?"

"Hello?"

I hung up.

"Well it couldn't have been that important," said PJ.

"So did anyone come and fix you guy's window yet?" Amber asked.

"No not yet, but if they don't do it by tonight I'm calling someone and complaining," I said.

"Yeah, our room was freezing last night," said PJ, "You could have hung meat in there."

"The same thing happened to mine, Stacey's and Drea's room at Hillcrest," said Amber, "It was so cold you could see my nipples through all of my shirts."

"Kinky," said PJ.

Just then my phone vibrated again. This was starting to get aggravating.

"Again?" said Amber.

I got my phone back out and answered it.

"Whoever this is either talk or stop calling me," I said.

Not a single word. Then I got the eerie feeling that I dreaded. It was a different kind of eerie though. Mysterious phone calls are never good. Especially when no one talks on the other end. A stalker, a break-in, and a strange phone call. This week keeps getting better and better.

Amber then grabbed the phone out of my hands and said, "Look! If you don't stop calling I will personally hunt you down and rip your throat out! Stop calling!"

She hung up and gave the phone back to me.

"There you go Jacob," she said.

"The threat was a nice touch," said PJ.

"Really? You don't think it was too much?" said Amber.

"No not at all," I said.

Now I guess I better add weird phone calls to the this is why Jacob's life is a living hell list. I wonder if you can die of stress overload because if so I think I could right about now. Stacey's busy at the library so I can't talk to her. I guess I'll call Trevor to see what he thinks about this.

"Look I'm going to go guys," I said.

"Don't let some stupid phone call freak you out Jake," said PJ.

"I'm not. I'm just going to work on some homework," I said.

"It's the weekend though man," he said.

"I know. I just want to get caught up so I don't have to do it last minute. I'll see you guys later."

"Alright," he said.

"Bye blue eyes," said Amber.

"Bye," I said.

I got up and threw my trash away and headed out towards the dorm. I know I went kind of crazy on PJ last night. I really don't want to put another worry in his mind. It's just a phone call in which no one talked on the other line. That's sort of normal. Who am I kidding? The phone call couldn't have been a coincidence. I mean they called three times. If it was the wrong number and they were too scared to say something, they wouldn't call two more times.

I finally made it back to our room. It wasn't really cold outside but when the wind blew it was kind of chilly. That made our room a little on the cold side even though it was daytime. I took my jacket and my shoes off and laid on my bed.

I stared up at the ceiling for a little while and then I sat up and looked at my side table. I didn't remember what I put in the drawers so I opened the first one. It had some loose change and some receipts, typical stuff. I closed that drawer and opened the bottom one. Laying on top was my crystal cluster rock. I picked it up and put it in my right hand. I ran my finger over the top and sides of it. This rock was a way that Stacey and I were connected. I gave her one. She still has it and uses it when she needs to. I think I'll be putting mine to use in the near future. I put the rock back down into the drawer and I noticed a book.

I picked it up and realized that it's not a book. It's my journal. Before my accident, I wrote in this journal every morning when I woke up. It has everything in it. Me dreaming about Stacey before I knew who she was and me dreaming about my own death. My parents gave it to Stacey while I was gone. She gave it back to me when she came to Colorado. She thought that me reading things that I wrote would help me remember. It did a little but not as much as she hoped it would.

Since my accident, I don't write in it anymore. I just don't feel like it's something I need to do. I kept it because it's a part of me. The old part of me. I have read every entry in this journal a million times since Stacey gave it to me. It's surreal reading thoughts that you know you wrote down but you don't remember thinking them. I mean I remember some of these things but not all of them.

I closed the journal and put in back into the drawer. I decided that I better call Trevor now instead of later. I grabbed my phone and dialed his number.

Ring!

Ring!

Ring!

"Hello?"

"Hey it's me Jacob."

"Oh, hey man."

"What have you been doing?"

"Nothing just school. Boring stupid school."

"It can't be that bad."

"Oh yes it is."

I laughed.

"Porsha told me about the break-in Jake," he said.

"Yeah coincidence, huh?"

"It could be man. You never know."

"Yeah but coincidences don't happen to me. That's actually what I was calling you about."

"What? The break-in?"

"No coincidences. I got a strange phone call earlier today."

"What was strange about it?"

"Oh the person who was calling me never talked or even uttered a sound. It was dead silence on the other end."

"Maybe it was the wrong number and they were too chicken to say something."

"Yeah that's what I thought the first time. But by the third time, that theory went out the window."

"Man, can your life ever be normal?"

"No because that would be to easy."

"This whole thing is getting weirder and weirder."

"Tell me about it. You think it's just me being paranoid now?"

"I don't know man, but it sounds like something's up. That's just too weird."

"Yeah I'm getting ready to rip my hair out."

"Stacey wouldn't date a bald guy so don't do that."

I laughed.

"Stacey does know about all this right?" he said.

"Yeah. Everything but the phone call. I haven't told her about it because I haven't talked to her today."

"I think Stacey would be the better person to talk to about this considering her past."

"Yeah, but she still thinks it's me being paranoid."

"Well man it might be."

"What do you mean? You just said this whole thing is weird."

"Yeah I know. Sometimes weird shit happens, but sometimes that shit is real. You never know. Just talk to Stacey about it."

"Yeah, I'm waiting on her to get done at the library and then I'll talk to her."

"Okay, man."

"Alright, talk to you later Trevor."

"Bye."

"Bye."

Well Trevor seemed to come over to my side a little. Now the challenge is to get Stacey over. Today is not my day.


	11. The Envelope

**Disclaimer: I am not writing this as my own. All characters and ideas belong to Laurie faria Stolarz**

Stacey POV

I open my eyes and look around. I'm lying on the ground of the all to familiar woods. I pull myself up into a sitting position and look through the trees and the brush for the light that I usually see here. I can't see anything, so I get up off the ground and start walking deeper into the woods.

I look to my left and my right, but I don't see the light. I have to find it because I know the woman is close to the light. It's too dark to find her without it. I start walking to my left. I was maneuvering my way through some fallen trees when I heard a twig snap behind me. I immediately turn around and try to spot whatever it was that made the twig snap. It had to be something. Twigs don't just snap on their own. I start walking in the direction where the sound came from. If it was daylight I could look at the ground and tell if someone had been there because of footprints. Since it's nighttime I don't have that luxury.

I hold onto a tree trunk as I try to go over a log. I had my left foot on the ground and was beginning to pull my right foot over the log when my foot got caught on the log. I held on tight to the tree trunk so I wouldn't fall onto the ground but that didn't work. I fell face first onto the cold wet ground. I raise my head up and wipe my face off with my hand. I was about to push myself up off the ground when I saw white tennis shoes about five feet from me.

I get up off the ground and realize that whoever is wearing the shoes is hiding in the brush because now as I'm standing I can't see anything. I walk towards the brush when I hear the breathing. The muffled breathing. It's coming from right in front of me. I put my arms out to see if I could feel anything standing in front of me. There is nothing.

I was about to walk towards the direction of the breathing when I heard another twig snap. It's coming from the direction of the shoes. The breathing made me almost forget about the person hiding in the brush. I wonder if they can see me. Surely if they were going to hurt me they would have done it when I fell on the ground. I quietly walk towards the brush. I strain my eyes to look deep into the brush. I can see the outline of a person. They're just standing there. I can't tell who they are, and I don't think they can see me.

Then a light from above illuminates the brush. It's not the same light that holds the location of the woman. I look up to see where it's coming from and realize that there is an opening in the tree tops. The light is coming from the moon and not just any moon, a full moon. There is enough light to see who the person is so I push the brush aside. The mysterious person who's hiding in the brush is Trevor. I look down at his feet to see if he's wearing white tennis shoes.

He is.

Right next to his feet is an envelope. For some reason I don't pick it up. I don't feel like it's important right now. I don't think Trevor could have made the breathing sound. It was coming from a completely different direction but I ask him anyways.

"Trevor, were you making a breathing sound?"

He doesn't move a muscle. He's just standing there staring at me.

"Trevor?"

All of a sudden I hear the woman scream, "Help! You don't understand! This isn't what I wanted!"

Trevor's pupils dilate and he puts his hands on my shoulders.

"I have to tell you something, Stacey."

"What is it? Tell me!"

"I have to tell you something Stacey."

I don't have time for this. The woman's screaming is getting louder and more frightening.

"Do you hear the woman screaming? We have to help her!"

"I have to tell you something."

"If you're not going to tell me then help me find the woman!"

He takes his hands off my shoulders and steps back and puts his head down.

"I don't have time for this!" I say.

I have to find the woman. I push back the brush and start running towards the screaming.

"Help! You don't understand! This isn't what I wanted!"

I start running faster. I strain my eyes again to look into the woods. I see a light now. It's the light. I run as fast as I can until I come to another log that I have to get over.

I hear the woman again, "Help! You don't understand! This isn't what I wanted!"

"I'm coming!" I yell.

I yell because maybe if she hears me it will give her hope that someone is trying to help her. I put one leg over the log and try my best to balance this time and not fall. I set my foot on the ground and pull my other leg over the log. I'm running out of breath but I have to keep going. I start running. I soon realize that I'm not going anywhere.

"No! Please no!" I yell.

I try to run but I'm still not going anywhere. I start to cry because I know it's a lost cause. I can't give up though. The woman needs me. I start running again when something comes out of no where and hits me in the forehead. The impact knocks me to the ground. The ground is cold and wet and all I can do is lay there and cry and listen to the woman screaming.

"Help! You don't understand! This isn't what I wanted!"

I cry even harder. I put my hand on my forehead to try to mask the pain but the pain isn't stopping. It's almost unbearable. I'm having trouble breathing because I ran so hard and I'm crying. Then I hear a beeping noise coming from my right. I take my hand off my head and look in that direction. I don't know what it is. Whatever it is it's making my head hurt even harder. I turn my head back and look up. I can see the full moon through the tree tops.

I open my eyes and put my hands on my head. The nightmares wouldn't be so bad if they didn't come with bodily pain. I realize the beeping noise in my nightmare was coming from my alarm. I reached over and turned it off. I lay back into my bed and close my eyes. I think my head is going to explode. I really need to get Porsha to make me some of that tea so I don't have to take a shower every time I wake up.

I hadn't even called Jacob today. I thought he probably figured out that I didn't have a nightmare last night when I didn't call him this morning. Even if I didn't have a nightmare just then I still would have called him. I mean it's the weekend for goodness sake.

I get out of bed and walk over to Amber's dresser. She keeps some aspirin in her top drawer. I open the drawer and find the bottle on top. I think you're supposed to take two but I take three because I think I'm having something a little stronger than a normal headache. I put the bottle back in the drawer and closed it.

I didn't even know where Amber and Janie were. Janie most likely was out with some of her new friends. There's no telling where Amber is at. It's a weekend so she'll probably want to do something tonight. I realized then that I needed to call Jacob. I haven't talked to him all day and I was really starting to miss him.

I was about to walk over to my bedside table to grab my phone when I realized an envelope was on the ground by the door. My nightmare all of a sudden came back to me. There was an envelope in my nightmare. It was sitting on the ground by Trevor's feet. In my nightmare I didn't open it or even touch it.

Then I remembered the full moon. The full moon had to signify what night the woman was going to need help. At least I have a time span. For some reason I didn't want to pick up or touch the envelope. I figured it could have been from anyone. It might even be a letter from the school or something. Not everything has to be linked to my nightmares does it? Who am I kidding? Of course it does. I bent down and picked up the envelope. I hold it in my hands and try to feel the vibes that are on it.

Immediately I sense that whatever is in this envelope is not good. Not normal even. I carefully pull the envelope open. I find a piece of paper folded up inside. I took the paper out and unfolded it. I soon as I saw what was on it my heart sank.

I didn't even need to read it. Anyone could look at it and tell what the words were going to say. The letters were individually cut out from magazines and newspapers. Typical of someone who doesn't want anyone to know their handwriting. I took a deep breath and began to read the letter.

STACEY,

IF YOU ARE SMART AND DO NOT WANT ANYONE TO DIE YOU WILL COME TO THE STORAGE BUILDING TOMORROW NIGHT AT MIDNIGHT. COME ALONE OR THE DEAL IS OFF!

I took another deep breath and put the letter back inside the envelope. I put the letter on my table and sat down on my bed.

This is it. The beginning of everything. If I make one wrong move someone will die. That someone has to be the woman in my dreams. I had to stay calm. If I got all hyped up about this something would go wrong. I should know that by now.

A thought occurred to me then. It's three in the afternoon. There are a lot of people here in the dorms. There's a possibility that someone saw someone put the envelope under my door. Somebody had to have put it there since I came back to the room. I mean it wasn't there when I came home from the library.

I got up off the bed and walked to the door. Before I opened it I took a deep breath. I really didn't want it to seem like something was terribly wrong. The last thing I need is people asking me questions. When I felt like I had my nerves calmed down enough, I opened the door and walked across the hall to Emily's room. Emily was a nice girl. A little too nice for my liking. She was kind of a goody two shoes but still I had to ask her. I knocked on the door and she immediately answered.

"Oh hey Stacey!" she said.

"Hey, Emily."

I can't stand people who act like the world is made up of rainbows and butterflies.

"Do you need anything? Ah! Do you need a study buddy?" she said with a huge smile across her face.

"No."

"Oh okay. Well how can I help you then?"

I tried to gather my thoughts and figure out how I was going to ask her without giving her the chance to be intrusive.

"Did you happen to see anyone standing around my door earlier?"

Please don't ask questions just answer mine.

"No, I don't remember seeing anyone. Why? Is something wrong?"

Great. She was not only too nice but also nosy. I told Emily the only answer I could think of that she would accept.

"A certain someone left me a love letter and I was trying to figure out what time they came by."

"Oh! That's so sweet! I'm assuming it's from Jacob, right?"

"Yeah, I fell asleep so I was wondering when he came by."

"Well I'm sorry but I couldn't tell you."

"That's alright. Thanks anyways."

"Okay bye."

I've never been so happy to see a door shut. Man, some people don't know when to stop.

The next person on my hallway tour was Rosa. She's a pretty cool chick. She minds her own business and never really has to much to say. She's my type of person. Her room is next to ours so maybe she could have saw someone. I knocked on the door. She answered after a couple of seconds.

"Hi Stacey."

"Hey Rosa."

"Do you need something?"

"I was wondering if you saw anyone outside of my door earlier?"

"Um, sorry, no. I didn't see anyone."

"Okay. Thanks Rosa."

"Bye Stacey."

Well that leaves only Caridee. She's the girl that everyone hated in high school. She was blonde, athletic, and had the perfect jock boyfriend. I think the only reason I really talked to her was that she reminded me of Drea. I was walking towards her door when it opened and she came out. She looked like she was leaving so I knew she wouldn't ask questions.

"Hey Caridee."

"Oh, hey Stacey."

"Can I talk to you for a second?"

"Um, yeah. I'm in hurry so can you make it quick?"

"Yeah I just wanted to ask you if you saw anyone standing around my door earlier?"

"No I don't remember seeing anyone. Sorry"

"It's okay. Thanks anyways."

"Bye Stacey."

She turned and walked down the hallway. So no one saw anyone. That helps.

I guess I better call Jacob and tell him the news. I went back into my room and grabbed my phone and called Jacob. It only rang a couple of times before he answered.

"Hey Stacey."

"Hey."

"What's wrong?"

He knew me all to well.

"When I got back from the library I took a nap."

"You had a nightmare didn't you?"

"Yeah."

"Anything new?"

"We have a time frame now. I saw a full moon. That can only mean one thing."

"This whole thing is going to go down on the night of the full moon."

"Yep."

"You feeling okay?"

"Yeah my head hurts but I took some aspirin. There's something else though."

"Do tell."

"In my nightmare, I saw Trevor again. When I found him he had an envelope by his feet. When I woke up from my nightmare I found an envelope by my door."

He hesitated and then said, "What was in it?"

"A letter that said that I needed to meet them at the storage building tomorrow night at midnight. And if I don't come alone someone will die."

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah. I'm kind of used to this now."

"Do you want me to come over?"

"Yeah. I need you right now."

"Okay. I'll be over in no time."

"Alright."

I hung up. I could really use seeing Jacob right now. I've been through this kind of thing many times. It doesn't really scare me anymore. All it does it make me anxious and nervous. I put my phone back on my table and reached for my lunar calendar. The next full moon is next Saturday. I had exactly a week to figure this out.


	12. For Love

**Disclaimer: I am not writing this as my own. All characters and ideas belong to Laurie faria Stolarz**

Jacob POV

I guess we won't be going to the movies tonight with Amber and PJ. I forgot to tell Stacey when she called me. Going on a date seemed secondary compared to an anonymous note threatening to kill someone if Stacey didn't comply.

I was waiting all day for Stacey to call so I could tell her about the strange phone call. When she finally did, I didn't think it was the right time. A part of me doesn't want to tell her but I know I have to. I've learned that keeping secrets sometimes can get you in trouble. I should know. If I hadn't kept my nightmare about me dying a secret, none of this would be happening right now.

After Stacey called me I immediately left my dorm and started walking towards Stacey's. I went through the door of her dorm and started walking up the stairs.

I was about to knock on Stacey's door when a voice from behind me said, "Oh Jacob you're the sweetest boyfriend ever!"

The voice could only belong to one person. A person that I met the day that I helped Stacey move her stuff into her room. That person is Emily. I've never met anyone as happy as Emily. I turned around to face her.

"I'm flattered but why would you say that?"

Saying I'm the sweetest boyfriend ever doesn't really make sense coming from a person I don't have a relationship with.

"Stacey told me about the letter that you left for her. It was so romantic of you!"

I assumed Stacey had asked Emily if she saw anyone by her door. Why else would Stacey tell her of a letter? I decided to just go along with it.

"Thanks I guess."

"Well I'm on my way out so you two have a nice romantic evening!"

"Will do. Bye Emily."

"Bye!"

With that she made her way down the hall. Okay. That wasn't the least bit awkward. I guess I better get going with our "romantic evening."

I turned back to face Stacey's door and knocked. The handle turned and the door opened to reveal Stacey.

"Hey-", was the only word I could get out before Stacey grabbed my shirt collar and pulled me into the room.

She wrapped her arms around my neck while I put my hands on her hips and used my foot to shut the door. She tilted her head up and pressed her lips to mine. I didn't expect this. I figured Stacey would be a little on edge. We kept kissing for another minute or two before Stacey broke our kiss.

"Wow. What was that for?" I asked.

"I just missed you."

"It's only been a day."

"Yeah but it's been a long day."

I smiled and leaned down to give her a quick kiss on the lips. I took her hand in mine and led her to the bed. We had a lot to talk about. I took my shoes off and sat on her bed as she did the same by sitting across from me.

"You know, we were supposed to go on a double movie date with Amber and PJ tonight."

"No one told me about it."

"I was going to tell you when you called me. I didn't want to call you because I knew you were at the library with Tim."

"Well now I feel bad!"

"Why?"

"Because! You wanted to go out tonight and I ruined it."

"Stacey you didn't ruin it. I'd rather spend time with you alone than with other people."

"Oh Jacob you're the sweetest boyfriend ever!"

"Oh gosh. Please don't start quoting Emily. I don't think I could take it."

We both laughed but we both knew that there were pressing matters that we had to discuss.

"So, tell me about the key points of your nightmare."

The key points are usually the details that will help Stacey figure the nightmare out. She shifted her weight and crossed her legs into an Indian style position.

"Um, there was a full moon. Trevor was still there saying that he needed to tell me something. And he had an envelope by his feet which looks exactly like the one I found today."

"Okay so we have a time now."

"Yeah but I still don't know why Trevor is there. I know why the envelope was there though. It was a premonition about the one that I got today."

I didn't even know why I was going to ask her this but I did anyway, "Are you going?"

I knew she would know exactly what I was referring to. She would go because she's Stacey.

"Of course I'm going. No one's dying on my watch. I can't go through that."

"Where did the note say to meet?"

"The storage building at midnight tomorrow."

"Well you're not going alone. I'm coming with you. I don't care what the note says."

I knew she would get angry at me for saying that but it was the truth. I wasn't going to let Stacey walk into a dark building by herself waiting to meet someone who was threatening to kill a person.

"I have to go alone. If whoever this is finds out that you're with me, the deal is off. Someone could get hurt."

"Yeah and what if you're the one that gets hurt. I'm not going to let that happen."

I could tell from the look on her face that she knew she wasn't going to win. I was coming with her tomorrow night.

"Fine. But we're going to have to make a plan where you still come but you aren't seen."

"Okay. On the way there I'll keep a certain distance behind you."

"What about when I go into the building?"

"There's windows in that building right?"

"Yeah."

"Well I could stand outside a window but I still need a way to hear what's going on."

We both sat and thought about the hearing issue for a minute.

Stacey then spoke up, "I could call you. Then neither of us hang up. I can keep my phone in my pocket."

"That's a good idea."

I don't think I would ever thought of that.

"So we have a plan?"

"Yeah. We have a plan."

"I just wish I knew who I was trying to help. It would be so much easier."

My uncle taught me all about clarity spells. I used them all the time when I was young. I knew Stacey used them to so I figured if we did one together it would make the spell stronger. The problem was Stacey and I haven't done magic together since my accident. It's something very personal and I didn't feel comfortable doing it with her until now.

"Why don't we do a clarity spell tonight ?"

She looked at me with a surprised look on her face.

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah. I'm positive."

"Okay, we'll do one later tonight."

Doing this spell tonight was going to be a big step for us. Not only would it bring clarity to her nightmares but it will also bring us closer. At that moment I felt extremely connected to Stacey so I decided to tell her about the phone call.

"Stacey?"

"Yeah."

"Come here."

I grabbed her hand and pulled her down as we both laid on the bed. I rested my head on the pillow while she rested hers on my shoulder. I ran my fingers through her hair and decided the moment had come.

"Can I tell you something?"

"Yeah anything."

"Earlier today when I was in the cafeteria with PJ, someone kept calling me."

"Who was it?"

"I don't know. Every time I answered no one would speak on the other end. I just kept getting an eerie feeling about it."

I expected her to tell me that I was just being paranoid but she didn't. She didn't say anything.

"You okay?" I asked her.

She sighed and said, "There's something I need to tell you."

"What?"

"After what happened the other night, I just got the sense that something was wrong. The same thing happened to me at Hillcrest. It just doesn't feel right. I think your paranoia is for real."

A part of me couldn't believe that she was finally agreeing with me on the paranoia issue. The other part of me knew that she would understand. I just didn't know when that would be. I sure as hell didn't think it would be tonight.

"I'm sorry I just kept telling you that you were paranoid. I just didn't want to believe that something was wrong. I finally got you back and I didn't want to face anything that could take you away again."

I shifted my weight so that we were laying beside in each other with our faces facing each other. I pushed some lose strands of hair out of her face. I could tell she was upset and worried.

"Stacey, nothing is going to take me away from you. And don't be sorry. You were just trying to help me be normal. That's all I've really wanted was to be normal and to be with you."

I put my hand on her back and began to rub it.

"As much as I want to, we can't focus on me. We have to focus on you and your nightmares. Someone needs help."

She shook her head and her eyes started tearing up.

"But I'm scared for you," she said.

"Don't be,' I said as I wiped away one of the tears that I fallen from her eyes.

"Ouch," she said as she put her hand on her head.

"Your head still hurts from earlier?"

"Yeah. The aspirin must have worn off."

"Have you ate today? That could be a reason why your headache isn't going away."

"No I haven't ate."

"Well we're going to have to change that."

I kissed her on her forehead and got up off the bed.

"Where are you going?" she asked.

"We are going to get something to eat."

I held out my hand for her to take. She took it and I helped her get off the bed.

"Where do you want to go?" I asked her.

"Uh, pizza sounds good right about now."

"Pizza it is."

I put my shoes back on and we both grabbed our coats and headed for Rick's Pizza Parlor down the street. We ordered a large pepperoni with extra cheese. I didn't realize how hungry I was until I saw the pizza in front of us. I could tell Stacey was pretty hungry too.

During our meal, PJ text me and asked if we were still going. I really wasn't in the mood for a movie. I also just wanted to be alone with Stacey. I told PJ that we were going to have to take a rain check and that me and Stacey were going to hang out in her room. All PJ said was, "wear protection." PJ. That boy has no shame.

While we were eating we talked about different things. I told her about the argument that PJ and I got into earlier about Tim having a crush on her. It gave us both a good laugh.

It seemed like we were at the parlor for a long time. It was like we were on our own personal date. After we left the pizza parlor, I suggested that we go get ice cream. It might be a little chilly for it but it's Stacey's favorite dessert. We went to the ice cream shop about three blocks away and got ice cream. Stacey got mint chocolate while I got plain vanilla. It was starting to get a little cold so we decided that we better head back to the dorms.

"Hang on, let me find my key," Stacey said as she dung through her purse.

She finally found it and unlocked the door.

"Gosh my lips are freezing!" she said.

"Well I know a way to warm them up," I said as I gave her a kiss.

"That was a good one."

"I never miss an opportunity."

"So, you ready to do this spell."

"Yeah, sure."

We took off our jackets and Stacey started to get the ingredients we needed for the spell. She got out a bowl, a sachet of dirt, a yellow candle, and a bottle of sea water. She laid the ingredients on the floor and sat down. I followed her lead.

"Can you hand me that lighter."

I looked around and spotted it on Amber's bed and picked it up.

"Why was it there?"

"There's no telling."

I laughed and handed the lighter to her. She reached into one of her drawers and took out a piece of paper and a pen.

"What should I ask?"

"Whatever you want to know."

"How about, who is the person that needs help."

"Perfect."

She wrote the question on the piece of paper. She lit the yellow candle which stood for clarity. She put the candle between us. She also put the piece of paper into the bowl.

"You ready?" she asked.

"Yes."

I picked up the sachet of dirt and laid it on top of the piece of paper in the bowl. Stacey lifted the bottle of sea water and poured some into the bowl.

"Take my hands," I say.

We both closed our eyes and concentrated and said the spell.

"As grounded as the earth and as unruly as the sea, may the blending of both bring me clarity times three."

"Blessed be the way," she said.

"Blessed be the way," I said.

With that we opened our eyes and blew out the candle.

"There. Maybe that will help."

"It should. I'm kind of tired. I should be going."

"No. Stay. Please."

I didn't want to leave Stacey so I stayed. I helped her clean up the spell supplies. She laid down in her bed and I laid next to her. I didn't want to fall asleep. If someone found out that I had stayed the night in Stacey's dorm, we would both receive consequences.

I could tell Stacey was tired. We soon found ourselves in the same position we were earlier. Me holding her with her head on my shoulder.

After a little while, I looked down and realized that Stacey had fallen asleep. I wondered if she was having a nightmare. I didn't want to wake her. We didn't do the spell for nothing.

I decided that I better leave so I carefully wound my way out of Stacey's arms. I got up off the bed and put my jacket on. Before I left I bent down and kissed Stacey. I really hope that deep down she knows I love her. I would do anything for her. Even go with her to meet up with a psychopath. People will do anything for love.


	13. Jumping to Conclusions

**Disclaimer: I am not writing this as my own. All characters and ideas belong to Laurie faria Stolarz**

Stacey POV

"I better get going," said Jacob.

"Don't leave," I said.

"Believe me I don't want to."

He sat up and I did the same. I rested my head on his shoulder. He took my hand and laced my fingers with his own.

"Are you scared about tomorrow?" he said.

"No, because I know you'll be there with me."

He tilted my chin up with his hand and kissed me. After a few quick kisses, he got up off the bed and helped me up.

"Alright. I'll see you tomorrow."

"I want to walk down with you."

"Okay, come on."

We took each other's hands and walked out of my room and down the staircase. Jacob opened the front door and led me outside.

"Be careful walking home," I said.

"I will. Don't be scared."

With that he kissed me and walked away into the darkness. For some reason I didn't want to go back inside. It was dark now but it really wasn't all that cold outside.

I decided to take a walk down the sidewalk that runs alongside the dorm building. I look up at the night sky and see a full moon. The woods next to the sidewalk are lit up. I keep walking down the sidewalk and get further and further away from the dorm building.

Then coming from the direction of the woods, I hear a woman scream, "Help! You don't understand! This isn't what I wanted!"

My heart starts pounding and I turn around to start running towards the building to get help for the woman. But when I turn around there are no buildings. Only trees and darkness stand behind me. I turn back around and realize that I'm in some sort of a clearing. The woman screams again. I'm the only person that can help her.

Above me the full moon casts an eerie light upon the woods. I can still hear the woman screaming but I have no idea which way to go. My heart is pounding even faster and I start to become frantic. I'm just going to have to pick a direction because I can't just stay here.

I was about to make my way over a tree when I spotted a carving on a tree to my left. I can't tell what the carving is but maybe if I move closer the moonlight will help me see it. I walk up to the tree. The light from the moon reveals to me that the carving is the letter "C". The woman screams again. I feel like the "C" is an arrow pointing me in the direction of the woman. I quickly move behind the tree and start maneuvering through the brush and fallen trees.

I finally make it out of the brush. In front of me through the trees and brush I see a light in the far distance. I know that's where the woman is. I can't go directly to the light because of the heavy brush in front of me. I have to find another way. I run to my right while keeping an eye on the light.

All of a sudden I run into something. I fall to the ground. I look up and realize I ran into Trevor. The woman screams again.

"Trevor! Help me find the woman!" I said as I got up off the ground.

He just stands there and stares at me. Then behind me I hear breathing.

"Do you hear that?" I said

"I have to tell you something."

I look around to try to figure out where it's coming from. I see nothing. I have to disregard the breathing because I have to help the woman.

"I have to find the woman. Are you coming or not?"

"I have to tell you something Stacey."

I can't do this right now. I leave Trevor and take off towards the light. I had been running for a while when I realized that my feet are moving but I'm not getting any distance.

The woman screams, "Help! You don't understand! This isn't what I wanted!"

I push my legs even harder but I still don't go anywhere.

"No! Please no!"

My heart is beating so fast and I'm having trouble breathing. Then something unknown hits me in the forehead and knocks me to the ground. My skull felt like it was cracked open. I start to cry. I cry because of the pain and I cry because I know I can't help the woman. I put my hands on my head. The pain is so intense I feel like I could throw up.

Then all of a sudden the screaming stops. It's over. She's dead. She has to be.

Behind me the sound of muffled breathing comes again.

I wake up and cover my head with my hands.

"Are you okay?"

I take my hands off my head and look over to find Janie and Amber staring at me.

"Stacey?" Janie said.

I really don't feel like talking to anyone right now. I'm scared if I open my mouth my head with crack open.

"Stacey talk to us," Amber said.

I sit up. I realized then that the clarity spell had worked. It did give me some feedback about who needed help. I know it's just a letter but it was a letter that I didn't have before. I was kind of bummed that Jacob didn't stay but I know in reality he couldn't. If someone caught him he would be in big trouble. Amber and Janie were still asking me if I was okay. I guess I need to speak or else they will call the campus nurse.

"I'm fine. I just had a nightmare so my head feels like it's going to split open."

"You want some medicine?" Amber asked.

"No, I'll take a shower in a minute. It usually helps some."

"So anything new?" Janie said.

I told Janie and Amber about my nightmare. How it started as a romantic dream and how it turned into a horrible nightmare.

I wonder when Jacob left last night? I guess I need to call him and tell him about the new details. I'm just glad that I told Jacob about my suspicions about his paranoia. I didn't want him thinking that I thought he was crazy. That's never good for a relationship. I just can't get over how he would push aside his own problems so he could deal with mine. He doesn't give himself enough credit. Maybe we can get together before tonight. I wasn't necessarily scared about tonight. I had done something like this before. It made me feel better knowing that Jacob would be there with me.

But it also made me anxious because I knew what the consequences were if Jacob was exposed. I realized then that I haven't told Amber or Janie about what had happened with the letter and everything. I really wanted to take a shower to help my head but I needed to make sure that Amber and Janie were in the loop.

"Guys, I have to tell you something," I said.

"Stacey I told you no sex, no drugs, no alcohol! When is it due?" said Amber.

"Oh my gosh you're pregnant!" said Janie.

"No! I'm not pregnant!" I said.

Talking about jumping to conclusions.

"Well that's a relief. I hate shopping for maternity clothes," Amber said.

"We're sorry. What do you have to tell us?" said Janie.

Gosh if they blew me having to tell them something out of proportion, I can't imagine what they will say when I tell them a psychopath left me a note.

"I took a nap yesterday when I got back from the library. I had a nightmare. It was the same scenario and everything but there was an envelope in it. When I woke up, there was an envelope by the door."

"Oh my gosh that is so creepy!" said Janie.

"So you're saying you had a premonition about an envelope?" said Amber.

"Yeah," I said.

"Did you open it?" said Janie as she started biting her fingernails.

Please don't freak out.

"There was a note in it saying that I needed to meet them at the storage building tonight at midnight and that if I'm not alone someone could possibly die."

"Now this is really creepy!" said Janie.

"Creepy but awesome!" said Amber.

"How is this awesome?" I asked Amber.

"I know it's scary and weird and all but this could help you. I mean you've done this before," said Amber.

I knew what Amber meant. This meeting tonight could help me out.

"Stacey you can't go! It's suicidal!" said Janie.

Janie was such a worry wart. I thought she would be able to handle this after all she went through last semester. I guess I was wrong.

"I have to go. Besides Jacob is coming with me. Nothing bad is going to happen. I promise."

"Yeah Janie," Amber said as she put her arm around her, "Stacey has put her life on the line many times before in situations like this. She can take care of herself. Plus Jacob will be there."

I have to say I was surprised Amber had so much confidence in me. I guess after all these years it just kind of built up.

"Thanks Amber," I said.

"No problamo my dear. I know you're a bad ass."

"I still think it's a bad idea," said Janie.

"Nothing's going to happen Janie. You just have to have faith," I said.

Janie and I didn't necessarily share the same beliefs last semester. She didn't like the fact that I did magic. Soon we both found out that we both are very spiritual people and were able to connect on that level.

"You promise you'll be careful," said Janie.

"I promise," I said.

"I say we pinky square it," said Amber.

With that I pinky squared to both Amber and Janie that I would be careful and make wise decisions tonight. Janie went to her fridge and grabbed a yogurt cup for each of us.

"Breakfast is served," she said.

After we took the lids off, Amber spoke up and said, "So…any idea what the "C" stands for?"

"Nope. Not one," I said.

"Well if you think about it, it could be anyone," said Janie, "I mean how many people's names start with a "C". A billion?"

"Are you sure it even stands for their first name?" asked Amber.

I hadn't actually thought of that. I just figured it was the person's first name because of the situations in the past.

"Well with Miles and Trevor it turned out that way. I don't see why it would be different now," I said.

"So we need to be on the look out for a person whose name starts with a "C"? Amber asked.

"Exactly," I said.

"Have you told Jacob this?" asked Janie.

"No I haven't talked to him since last night," I said.

Amber and Janie looked at each other and smiled.

"You were with Jacob last night?" said Amber.

"Yeah, he wasn't here when you guys came home?"

That was one of the times when I didn't think about what I was going to say before I said it. By the time I did say it, it was too late. Amber and Janie were giggling and making weird noises at each other.

"Are you telling me Jacob stayed here last night?" said Janie.

"He didn't stay here all night. Why do you guys think you didn't see him? I mean, I fell asleep and he must have left."

Again Stacey, think before you speak.

"Oh my God! Did you guys do it?" Amber said.

"No we didn't!" I said but it was too late.

"I can't believe this," said Amber, "I never thought I would see the day!"

"You have to tell us about it Stacey," Janie said.

Amber and Janie came and sat on my bed on either side of me.

"Okay. I'll tell you something," I said.

"Oh I'm so excited," said Janie.

They were both staring at me intently and I looked them each in the eye and said, "We did not do it!"

"Well why didn't you say so?" asked Amber.

"Yeah Stacey. Why did you get us all hyped up like that?" said Janie.

"Oh my gosh," I said.

My head was really hurting now. I needed to get out of there fast.

"I'm taking a shower," I said.

"Okay party pooper. We're going to the art club meeting so if we're not here that's where we are." said Amber.

The art club. They're not in the art club.

"Why would you guys go to an art club meeting?" I asked.

"Because me and Janie saw this really hot guy in the art building the other day."

"Yeah and I asked this girl and she said he was in the art club."

"So you're joining it why?"

"Because we need some eye candy," said Amber.

"You guys are hopeless," I said before I walked out of the room and shut the door.

To outsiders people would never guess that Amber and Janie were good friends. The only thing they really share in common is their boy crazy syndrome.

I went to the bathroom and took a twenty minute shower. Students aren't really supposed to take showers that long but I really didn't care. When I got out of the shower my head felt so much better. Thank the lord for hot water and steam.

When I got back to the room Amber and Janie weren't there. They're probably in the art building stalking some poor guy. I blow dried my hair and changed into a t-shirt and a pair of jeans. I then went over to my bed and grabbed my phone to call Jacob.

He answered on the third ring.

"Good morning sleeping beauty," he said.

"Yeah, I'm sorry I fell asleep last night. I guess I was more tired than I thought."

"Don't be. You need your rest for tonight."

"So I have some news."

"What?"

"Our spell worked."

"Really, that's great."

"Yeah I got a letter now."

"A letter?"

"Yeah the letter "C"."

"I'm assuming that's the first letter of someone's name?"

"That's what I think."

"That's awesome."

"So you want to do anything today?"

"Uh, Trevor just text me and wanted an update. I told him I'd come over."

"Oh okay."

"I can tell him another time if you want me to."

"No, go see Trevor. I'll go see Porsha today. She probably needs to be updated to."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, and I also need her to make me some of that tea. I can't take twenty minute showers everyday."

"Okay."

"We'll meet up later though."

"You still want to do this tonight?"

"Yeah, I do."

"Alright. I'll see you later."

"Okay bye."

"Bye."

Giving Trevor and Porsha regular updates isn't a bad idea. Especially giving them to Trevor since he's somehow apart of this.

After I hung up with Jacob, I called Porsha to see if I could come over.

Ring!

Ring!

"Hello," she said.

"Hey Porsha. It's Stacey."

"Oh hey. What's up?"

"It's a long story. Do you mind if I come over?"

"Of course not. What time do you want to come?"

"Is now okay?"

"Yeah come on over."

"Great. Can you do me a favor?"

"Sure. What is it?"

"Can you whip me up some of that tea. My head kills me every time I wake up from a nightmare."

She laughed and said, "Sure. I'll make you a pitcher so you can take some home."

"Thanks Porsha. I'll see you in a few."

"Alright. Bye."

"Bye."

I hung up and grabbed my bag and headed for Porsha's. It didn't take long before I was in front of her house ringing her door bell. She answered the door after I rang the doorbell once.

"Hey Stacey. Come in."

I walked through the door and she led me into the living room.

"Is your dad here?"

"No. He's at a golf tournament."

"Oh okay."

"So what's going on?"

I told Porsha everything about my nightmares and about the envelope.

"So are you going tonight?" she asked.

"What other choice do I have?"

"You got a point."

"I can't pass up an opportunity."

"You don't have to explain yourself. I understand."

That's what I loved about her. She besides Jacob was the only person who understood what I was going through.

"It's weird that Trevor's in your nightmares though."

"That's the most confusing part to me. I mean what does he have to do with anything?"

"Well something obviously. Look why don't we have lunch together. You must be stressing out about tonight. Lets just have a little relaxing time before everything goes haywire."

A girl's day. Not something I would imagine myself doing hours before I meet up with a psychopath. How keen. She was right though. If I just sat around all day the anxiety would kill me.

"Sure."

Porsha taught me how to make the herbal tea that I needed for my head. We made lunch and ate and acted like normal. Acted is the key word. As hard as I try I will never be normal. I was starting to miss Jacob though. We have gone through so much together. I just hope that we can make it out together tonight.


	14. The Meeting

**Pay attention!! This is from Stacey's POV even though it should be Jacob's. This chapter had to be written from her point of view. Enjoy and Review!**

**Disclaimer: I am not writing this as my own. All characters and ideas belong to Laurie faria Stolarz**

Stacey POV

Tonight is the night. The night where I could voluntarily walk into the trap of a killer. Of course I had doubts about this whole thing. I mean could it be a prank? It's happened before with the wannabes back at Hillcrest. Even though I do have my doubts, I can't risk it. I'll take any chance that I can get to find out more about the people in my nightmares.

After I got back from Porsha's earlier, I met up with Jacob. We decided that we needed to get some sleep before the meeting tonight since we have classes tomorrow. I know we won't be able to sleep much but some will help. He said that he would come to my dorm around 11:30 tonight since it only takes about ten minutes to get to the storage building.

A part of me is really anxious about tonight. Mostly about the fact that Jacob is coming. My heart is telling me one thing and my head is telling me another. My heart's telling me that Jacob has to come. It's the only way that I'll feel safe. I feel protected when he's around. Him being there in the shadows will definitely make me feel better about meeting this person. But unfortunately my head is telling me something different. Jacob shouldn't come because the note said that I have to be alone. What if he's seen and something happens to him because he was there. I'll feel guilty for the rest of my life. It's out of my control though. Jacob cares about me enough to put himself in this situation. He also refuses to let me go alone. I just really hope tonight goes well.

When I got back from meeting with Jacob, Amber and Janie still weren't in the room. Gosh they're probably chasing and stalking that poor art guy around campus. I was hoping they would be back when I got here. I wanted us to eat dinner together and talk about this whole thing. I guess I'm on my own.

I grabbed my purse and headed for the cafeteria. For it being Sunday there were a lot of people here. Hopefully I'll be able to get a table without having to sit with a group of girls who talk about pop culture. What I'd give to be a blonde bimbo.

I was in the mood for a salad so I got in line for the salad bar. I made my salad and drizzled some Italian dressing on top and began looking for a table. Way back in the corner, I could see a couple table. A table with only two chairs. Since I'm eating by myself, I decided to go sit at it.

I was almost finished with my salad when my phone vibrated. It was a text from Amber saying that the art club guy turned out to be a jerk and that her and Janie were back in the room. The art club guy most likely wasn't a jerk. Amber probably just scared him and came on way too hard.

I finished my salad and headed back to the dorms. When I got back to the room, Amber and Janie were talking about art club guy.

"He was an asshole!" Amber said.

"Some guys just get a little freaked out when a girl they don't know grabs their ass," Janie said.

Sometimes Amber just can't help herself. Amber was sitting on my bed so I put my purse down and sat next to her.

"Amber," I said, "You can't just walk up to strangers and grab their ass."

"Stacey you had to see it," Amber said, "It was so plump and round and delicious. How could I have not have grabbed it!"

"It's hopeless," said Janie.

"Yep," I said.

Amber loved butts for some reason. There's no way that will ever change.

"So Stacey," Amber said, "You still going to meet the looney tune tonight?"

Looney tune. I'll have to write that one down on my list of words to describe crazy people.

"Yeah I am," I said.

"Do you want us to do anything?" asked Janie.

I thought about this earlier. I didn't necessarily wanted them to do anything but I wanted to them to be awake when I got back from the meeting.

"Do you guys mind getting up with me tonight?"

"What do you mean?" asked Amber.

"I'm going to try to get some sleep before I go. I still have to wake up in the morning for my classes. I'm going to set my alarm for 11:00 and leave with Jacob by 11:30. I just want you guys to be awake when I come back. You know, just in case."

"Yeah," said Janie, "Sure. What time do you think you'll be back?"

"Janie how could she possibly know that?", said Amber, "Nut jobs usually don't care about the time."

"She's right Janie," I said, "I don't know how long it'll take. Hopefully not long though."

Psychopaths aren't punctual and considerate. For all I know, I could be out all night. Who knows how long this could take. We talked more about tonight and how Jacob was coming was with me. Janie still expressed concerns about the idea of me going. Amber seemed excited and anxious at the same time. They both agreed that they would wake up at eleven and stay up until I got back. They also agreed if I wasn't back by morning or if I didn't call they would call the police. The number one rule, always let someone else know where you are. Believe me, it helps.

We changed into our pajamas and laid down in our beds and tried to get some sleep.

Beep!

Beep!

Beep1

It's already eleven? It felt like I had just laid my head on the pillow. I reached over and turned the alarm off. Amber and Janie hadn't moved. I guess they have become immune to the sound of my alarm clock.

"Amber…Janie wake up," I said.

They didn't move an inch. I had to hurry since Jacob was going to be here in thirty minutes. I got out of my bed and walked over to Amber's. I shook her arm.

"Amber wake up," I said.

She rolled over and put her head down into her pillow. I decided Janie would probably be easier to wake up, so I walked over to her bed.

"Janie it's eleven," I said as shook her leg.

She woke up and yawned.

"It's eleven already?" she said.

"Yeah," I said, "I can't wake up Amber though."

"Don't worry I will," she said as she got out of her bed and walked over to Amber's.

She leaned down to her ear and said, "Amber!"

She immediately jolted up.

"I'm awake!" she said.

Over the next thirty minutes, Janie made some coffee and I changed into jeans, a long sleeve shirt, and a jacket.

"Oh gosh I'm tired," Janie said as she yawned, "Amber?"

I looked over at Amber. She was sitting on her bed with her head resting on the wall while holding a cup of coffee. Her mouth was wide open and her eyes were closed.

"Amber!" Janie said.

"What? Oh, I'm awake," she said.

"Yeah now," I said, "Look you guys, you have to stay up. I mean you've partied and have stayed awake."

"Yeah but we didn't do it right after we woke up," Amber said.

"We have to do this for Stacey," Janie said.

"Alright," Amber said.

Before I put my cell phone in my jacket pocket, I looked at the time. It was 11:26. Jacob's probably already here waiting outside.

"It's time for me to go. Remember, if I don't come back without calling call the police."

"We will," Janie said.

"Be careful Stacey," said Amber."

"I'll try," I said as I walked out of our room and headed downstairs to the door.

When I opened the front door Jacob was standing there.

"I was starting to think you weren't coming," he said.

"Sorry, we had to wake up Amber. Not an easy task."

He held out his hand for me as I walked down the stairs.

"This is your last chance to turn around," he said.

"No. I have to do this."

I looked into his slate blue eyes and could tell he was worried. I was even worried. But I kept telling myself that Jacob was going to be there and that I had Amber and Janie take precautions.

"Okay, lets get going then," he said after he gave me a quick kiss on the lips.

The night air is crisp and cool and the night sky is full of stars that look like lights. I would say it's a beautiful night but what I'm about to do is anything but beautiful.

The woods of Beacon University line the storage building about hundred yards away from it. It's not a very big building and it doesn't look as nice as the other buildings on campus. Most likely it's because the building is used for storage. Not many people even know it exists since its proximity is so close to the woods.

As we walked closer to the building, Jacob and I stepped into the dense forest. There's only one window in the building so Jacob decided it would be better if he stayed near the woods.

"Okay, make sure your phone is turned on silent," he said.

I check my phone. It is.

"It's on silent. Call me."

He dialed my number and seconds later my phone lit up. I answered it.

"Make sure you don't press any buttons to make your phone hang up."

"Okay."

"If anything happens just scream or yell and I'll hear you through the phone."

I shook my head signifying yes.

"What time is it?" I asked.

He looked down at his phone and said, "11:58."

All of a sudden a surge of adrenaline rushed through my veins. This was it. The time had come.

"I need to get going," I said.

"Yeah. Please be careful Stacey."

"I will."

"Remember if you feel like something's wrong get out of there. I'll be right here."

"Okay," I said as I put my arms around him.

I held him tight as he did to me. I didn't want to let him go but I knew I had to. I breathed in his lemongrass scent and felt like that gave me the courage to break away. He cupped my face in his hands and kissed me.

"Be careful," he said.

He let go of my face and I turned to walk out of the shadows of the forest. The building was only about a hundred yards away but to me it seemed like miles. I took a deep breath to calm myself down and started walking towards the building. I soon found myself in front of the door. The door was old and weathered looking. It was obvious the college didn't take care of the building.

I closed my eyes and pushed open the door. As the door swung open, it made a screeching sound. Before me stood a building full of darkness. It was pitch black inside. I stepped into the doorway and closed the door which again made the creepy sound. If anyone was in here they would for sure know I was here now.

I hadn't realized how nervous I was until then. How would I know if there was a person standing three feet in front of my with a knife or a gun? This thought frightened me and my hands started to shake. I had to calm myself down. I thought of my phone in my pocket. Jacob was only a scream away. If anything happened he would know. This calmed me down.

I again took a deep breath and mustered the courage to say into the darkness, "Hello? If you're there it's me, Stacey."

I waited for a response.

Nothing.

Maybe if I was closer someone would answer me. I had never been in the building before so I didn't know what it contained. I had to start walking. I put my arms out in front of me and started to move. I took slow and steady steps.

I tried to speak again, "You're the one who wanted to talk to me. So talk."

Again nothing.

Just then I heard what sounded like an empty paint can fall over. Someone was in here. My pulse quickened.

"Hello?"

The sound came from my left so I started walking in that direction.

"I know you're in here."

This was getting annoying. Why leave me a note saying that I needed to meet them and then when I get here not say anything? My eyes started to adjust to the darkness a little. I couldn't tell what anything was but I could see outlines of some objects. Then out of the corner of my eye I saw the outline of a person slowly making their way to the back of the building.

My heart jumped and I said, "Hey!"

They started to run. I tried but I failed because as soon as I turned to start running I slammed my foot into something made of metal.

"Damn it!" I yelled.

I fell to the hard cement ground and held my foot. I might have broken some of my toes. I laid my head back on the cement and winced in pain. Then the back door opened and on the floor I saw a shadow go out of it into the night.

From the inside of my pocket I heard, "Stacey! Are you okay!"

It was Jacob on the other end of my phone. I let go of my foot and reached into my pocket for my phone. Before I could take it out, the front door swung open and Jacob stood in the doorway.

"Stacey!"

He rushed over and knelt down beside me.

"Are you okay? Are you hurt?"

"I just stubbed my foot on something."

I raised my head and looked in front of me. The light from the night sky cast a small stream of light into the building. I could now tell what I had ran into. It was an old filing cabinet that I had been laid down on its side.

"It was that damn filing cabinet."

"Is your foot broken?"

"No. If anything I broke one of my toes. Help me up."

He put his hands underneath my arms and pushed me up.

"So what happened?" he said.

I then remembered what I just happened. Whoever I was supposed to be meeting was in here with me. For some reason they didn't want to talk and ran out when I was vulnerable. I told Jacob what had transpired here in the storage building.

"Well this whole thing was strange but that's really strange. Why would they want you here if they weren't going to say anything?"

"I don't know."

"You said they ran out the back door right?"

"Yeah."

"Lets check it out."

We made our through the maze of paint and gasoline cans to the back door which remained open. Jacob and I walked through the open door into the night. Behind the building about twenty yards away stood woods. We checked the ground around the building to see if the person had dropped anything while they were on their way out. We found nothing.

"My guess is that they ran into those woods over there," Jacob said as he pointed to the woods in the near distance.

"Yeah probably so. We better head back before Amber or Janie call the police."

"Yeah lets go."

He took my hand and we turned to face the back of building. That's when I noticed it. On the side of the back door on the wall hung a clipboard with paper on it. Maintenance probably used it for keeping track of the items in the building. The pen attached to the clipboard hung from a chain and was swinging in the wind. From where I was standing, I could tell there was something written on the paper. The writing was small so I couldn't tell what it said. I got a feeling that it was something a worker hadn't written.

"Do you see that," I said as I pointed towards the clipboard.

"What the clipboard?"

"Yeah come on."

I held his hand and started walking towards it. As we got closer, Jacob noticed the writing too.

"Something's written on it."

I let go of his hand and he stood behind me as I took the clipboard off the wall. I read the writing out loud.

I TOLD YOU TO COME ALONE STACEY BUT YOU DIDN'T LISTEN. I KNOW JACOB IS THERE WITH YOU. I GUESS YOU WILL HAVE TO SUFFER THE CONSEQUENCES. DON'T WORRY, I WON'T MAKE IT TOO PAINFUL FOR AMBER AND JANIE

As soon as I read the last sentence my heart sank and my hands started to tremble.

"Oh my God!" I said.

"How do they know?" Jacob said.

Tears began rolling down my cheeks as I attempted to fold the note up.

"We have to go! We have to get to the room!"

I put the folded up note in my pocket.

"Give me your phone," he said, "I'll call Amber real quick."

I gave him my phone while more tears rolled down my face.

After a couple of seconds Jacob said, "No answer."

"Oh God Jacob! If something's happened to them…"

"Don't think that. Come on. We have to hurry."

He took hold of my hand and we started running. As soon as I put my hurt foot down on the ground, pain shot up through it. I had to get the pain out of my mind. Amber and Janie could be hurt. I didn't follow directions. I brought Jacob. But how could they possibly know he was there? More so, how could they know his name? Or Amber and Janie's for that matter.

We were halfway to the dorm when I started to lose my breath. My foot was killing me. I had to keep going though. Amber and Janie's life could depend on it. I mean we stayed at the building a good ten minutes after the commotion happened.

"Keep going Stacey. You're doing good. We're almost there."

I prayed that we would make it in time. I was hoping that any second we would see my dorm building. I was also hoping that we wouldn't see any police cars or ambulances outside of my dorm. As we turned the corner, the building came into our sights.

"Almost there! A little more, come on!"

There were no police cars or ambulances outside of the building. Maybe everything's okay or maybe they just haven't found them.

We were both panting for breath as we reached the door. Jacob opened the door and he and I ran up the stairs to my room. The door wasn't open. I turned the knob but it was locked.

"Amber! Janie!" I said as I banged on the door.

"Give me your keys," Jacob said.

I handed him my keys as I put my hands over my mouth and started to sob. He put the key in the lock and opened the door. We both ran inside.

"Amber! Janie!"

Janie was sitting on her bed leaning against the wall sleeping while Amber was laying across her lap fast asleep.

"Oh my God! You're okay!"

They both woke up and Amber sat up and rubbed her eyes.

"Jeez Stacey. What the hell is going on?"

"Yeah what's the matter?" Janie said.

I didn't say anything. I ran and jumped on the bed and hugged both of them.

"What's this all about?" asked Amber.

I was so grateful they were okay. If something had happened to them, I wouldn't have been able to live with myself. Tears fell from my eyes as I hugged them.

"We thought you guys were hurt," Jacob said answering Amber's question.

"Why would we be hurt?" Janie asked.

I let go of them both and faced them as I wiped the tears off my face.

"The person I was supposed to meet left a note behind saying that I didn't listen and that I was going to have to pay the consequences. And that you guys were going to get hurt."

"What?" said Janie.

"That's pretty fucked up," Amber said.

"Yeah. After we found it Jacob tried calling you but no one answered. So we made a run for it hoping we could save you in time."

"Oh Stacey," said Amber, "Come here girl."

Amber reached out her arms and hugged me.

"I can't believe someone would do that," said Janie.

Amber let go of me and said, "We're fine. The basterd didn't even put a scratch on us."

"How would they even know our names?" Janie asked.

"That's what I'm trying to figure out," said Jacob, "They knew who I was too."

"That's freaky," said Amber.

"I'm sorry we didn't answer the phone though Stacey," said Janie, "We fell asleep."

"It's okay Janie. I'm just happy you are both okay."

I know I told them to avoid sleeping but how could I be mad about that right now. Five minutes ago I thought they were dead.

"You guys look exhausted," said Amber, "Me and Janie are going to get some vitamin water from the vending machine."

"Yeah we'll be back in a minute," said Janie.

They both got off the bed and walked out of the door. Out in the hallway I heard Amber telling Emily to mind her own business and go back into her room.

"Are you okay?" asked Jacob as he sat down on the bed next to me.

"No I'm not. Five minutes ago I thought my friends were dead."

"They're okay though Stacey," he said as he rubbed his palm against my back.

"Yeah but for how long? Whoever this person is they know you guys. Anything could happen."

"I'm not going to let anything happen."

He took my hand and put it in his own and massaged my hand.

"What I don't understand is why they would tell you to meet them and then call a bluff."

"Maybe I wasn't supposed to come back."

"What?"

"Maybe they wanted to scare me into coming alone by telling me someone could get hurt. That way there would be no witnesses. They could do whatever they wanted to to me."

I looked at Jacob and he had a blank stare in his eyes.

"You know I'm right," I said.

I didn't think he was going to answer me but he did with, "I know. I just wish you weren't."

I wish I wasn't right. I just don't understand. Why would it matter if Jacob was with me or not if they just wanted to tell me something? It's not like I wouldn't come back from the meeting and tell Jacob everything anyways.

Just then a thought occurred to me. This person whoever it was knew who Jacob was and what he looked like. Maybe they saw us walking to the storage building or something. I know for a fact there's no way anyone could see Jacob in the woods from the storage building. I don't know but they still knew who he was. Maybe that's the reason Jacob's been paranoid ever since he got here.

"Hey," I said, "Maybe this is the reason who've been paranoid."

"What do you mean?"

"This person knew who you were. Your name and what you look like. To know me, you, Amber, and Janie they would have had to have followed us or watched us at some point. Maybe you're the only one who has noticed it."

"Huh. That could be. It makes sense."

"We're all going to have to be more careful now. You know, who we're with and where we are."

"Yeah."

I leaned into Jacob and put my arms around him. Tonight definitely had worn me down. All I wanted was to sit here and be in Jacob's arm. I closed my eyes and took in his scent.

"You know Stacey, if you want me to stay here tonight I will. I don't care if I get expelled. All I care about is you."

I would love if Jacob stayed the night with me. I'd feel safe and warm. But the consequences he would face are too risky. I'm not going to let him risk his college education for me. I let go of him and put my hands on his chest.

"I want you to stay more than anything in the world right now, but you can't. I won't let you risk it. If you walked out of here in the morning and someone saw you they would for sure report it to my RA."

"Okay."

I leaned forward and kissed him. We let our lips linger for a moment and then kissed each other again. Then the door opened and Amber and Janie had four vitamin waters in their hands.

"Sorry, we'll wait outside," said Janie.

"No it's okay," said Jacob, "I was about to leave. We all have class in the morning and it's really late. I need to get going."

I didn't want him to leave but I knew he had to. He gave me another kiss and told me goodnight and that he would see me tomorrow.

On the way out Amber stopped Jacob and said, "Here. You just ran a marathon for us. At least have a water."

"Thanks for doing what you did Jake," said Janie.

"Your welcome. Thanks for the water. Take care of Stacey for me."

"We will," Amber said.

With that he walked out of the room and closed the door.

"What a night," Janie said as she handed me the water. I took a sip and decided to take off my shoes. As I took of my shoes, the familiar pain shot up my foot.

"Ouch!" I said.

"What wrong?" said Amber.

"I hurt my foot."

Now that I was looking at my foot, it didn't look like I had broken any toes. They were just bruised and really sore.

"Do you need a nurse?" asked Janie.

"No. I'll be fine. I'm going to take a shower. I feel disgusting."

"Okay, we'll wait up for you," said Amber.

"No, you guys go to sleep. We have classes in the morning."

"We're not falling asleep on you this time Stacey," said Janie.

With that I smiled and headed for the showers.


	15. Stalker

**Sorry about the wait. College has been crazy. But here you go! Enjoy and Review!**

**Disclaimer: I am not writing this as my own. All characters and ideas belong to Laurie faria Stolarz**

Jacob POV

Last night I returned to my room at little after midnight. I knew getting up early for classes was going to be hell. It was just really hard to go to sleep after what happened. Standing in the woods waiting for Stacey to come out of the storage building without harm was unbearable. She could have voluntarily put herself up for murder.

Then when I heard her screaming through the phone I freaked out. I screamed into my phone back at her asking if she was okay. When she didn't answer me, I lost it. I ran as fast as could to that building. I found her laying on the ground whimpering in pain. Luckily it was just her foot that was hurt and nothing else. Then we she told me about the person not saying a word, it confused me. Why would someone go through all that trouble and not say anything?

It got even stranger when she found the note. The person knows who I am. Not only my name but also what I look like. They obviously have to be following us. It actually gives me a glimmer of happiness even if it does sound backwards. If someone was following me to get to Stacey, it would mean that I'm not crazy. Someone is actually following me. As screwed up as it sounds, it's how I feel. Of course it makes me uneasy that someone is following all of us.

The thing that I don't understand is that if someone is really following us, why was I the only one who sensed it? I know Amber and Janie wouldn't have noticed it. They don't have the gift. The person I wonder about is Stacey. She has this special gift of sensing things. If someone was following her why didn't she sense it?

I didn't want to leave Stacey last night. She was pretty rattled about the whole situation. Who wouldn't be? But being the type of person Stacey is she wouldn't let me stay. We would both get in serious trouble. So last night I walked back to the dorm and passed out in the bed. PJ was already asleep when I got back. I could hear him snoring. But the situation at the storage building wasn't the only action that happened last night. I had another nightmare last night. It started out as just a dream about my time at the camp, but soon in turned into the nightmare I had last week.

_I sit on my bed and look at the stars out of my window. The sky is clear and beautiful and the moon shines brilliantly in the night sky. The bright stars combined with the fluorescent moon shines a light onto the woods next to the camp. I look to my left and find Brick fast asleep in his bed. For some reason I don't feel tired even though I chopped wood for most of the day. I know I need sleep for tomorrow so I lay back into my bed. _

_All of a sudden I hear the door creak open. A soft light from a candle comes into the room along with Lily. She wears a soft white cotton sundress and holds a candlestick in her hands_.

_"Shell, come here," she says. _

_I glance over at Brick to see if he's awake. I assume the creaking noise didn't wake him since he is still in the same position he was before. I get out of my bed and walk over to Lily. _

_She takes my hand and says, "I have a surprise." _

_She smiles at me and leads me to the closet. Before we enter she sets the candlestick on the small table by the door. _

_"In here," she says as she turns the doorknob. _

_We walk into the closet and she closes the door. She strokes my cheek with her hand and brings her lips up to my ear. _

_"I meant what I said before, you know. I love you….with all my heart." _

_She presses her lips to my neck and I wrap my arms around her and_ take her in. She smells like honey.

_Then from outside of the closet I hear, "Jacob!" _

_I jerk my head out of Lily's embrace and turn towards the door and say, "Did you hear that?" _

_When I don't hear Lily's response I turn to face her. When I do she is not there. _

_"Lily?" _

_On my feet I start to feel something cold and wet. I know it's water. I try to open the closet door but it's locked. Like someone deliberately locked me in here. I then remember that Brick is on the other side sleeping in his bed. _

_I yell for him, "Brick! Help me!" _

_The water rises up to my knees. I pound the door with my fists. _

_"Brick!" _

_The water rises up to my shoulders. There's no way I'm getting out of the closet. I'm going to drown. The water now is almost completely filling the closet. I push off the floor and swim up to the top. Five inches is left at the top. Just enough for me to breathe. _

_Then the water rises again and fills the entire closet. I float down into the dark, cold water and wait to die. I'm not going to be able to hold my breath for much longer. Then a hard object hits me in the head and knocks me into the darkest of darkness._

I still don't know what the nightmare means. Now since I know someone is probably following me I really don't think I need to pay much attention to it. The only thing I need to pay attention to is Stacey.

I glance at my phone and see that in one minute the alarm will go off. I don't turn it off because it seems that the only thing that will wake PJ is an alarm. PJ knew that Stacey and I were going to the "meeting" last night. I told him not to wait up and he obviously did that.

I sit and wait and finally the alarm goes off. PJ wakes up and stretches his arms out. I turn the alarm off and sit on the edge of my bed.

"I hate Mondays," he says, "It's the only day where I don't look like my usual hot self."

To some people PJ might seem vain. To others he seems confident. It just depends on who you talk to. I, on the other hand, think PJ is just an individual. I've never met anyone like PJ.

I stand up and I also stretch out my arms. I dig in the bag that contains our food and pull out two pop-tarts. I throw one to PJ but he doesn't catch it. It smacks him right in the face.

"You know if it wasn't this early I would care that you just hit me in the face with a food product."

"Sorry."

I open mine and take a bite out of the strawberry flavored pastry. PJ does the same except a little more sloppy.

"So.." he says in between bites, "how did the meeting with Mr. Crazy ass go?"

Here it goes.

"They showed up, but they didn't talk."

"What? They just stared at Stacey the whole time?"

"No, it was really dark in that building. Stacey went in there and tried to get them to talk but they didn't. She ran into a filing cabinet and fell. We she hit the floor they ran."

"What a douche."

"Yeah. That's not even the crazy part."

Now was the time where I was going to tell PJ that someone was stalking us including his girlfriend.

"They ran out of the back so we went and checked the back of the building out. Stacey found a note saying that she didn't listen and that Amber and Janie would get hurt because of that."

"What! Why didn't you tell me! Is Amber okay?"

"No!"

"What?"

"I mean, no it didn't go down like that."

"Explain please."

"After we found the note, we ran as fast as possible to the dorm. When we got there, Amber and Janie were asleep. They were fine."

The color in PJ's face went from white to normal.

"That's a relief. So the psychopath is threatening us too?"

"I don't necessarily think they're threatening you. I just think they're following you."

"Do mean like stalking us?"

"Yeah. The note said that they knew that I was there. It actually said my name. That means they know who I am and what I look like. They also know that Amber and Janie room with Stacey. They have to be following us."

"Oh man," he said as he rubbed his temple with his fingers.

"We all need to be careful and watch our backs."

It had always sucked that Stacey and I seemed to somehow get involved with these situations. It sucked even more when your best friends were involved too.

We finished our breakfast and got dressed to go to class. On my way, I text Stacey to see if she was okay. She answered back saying that she was fine and was headed to her next class.

Classes were boring as usual and I couldn't wait for my lunch break. I headed over to the cafeteria and got a bag of chips and a vitamin water and sat down at a table. I figured I would text Trevor the short version of what happened last night. I couldn't call him because he was in school.

To: Trevor

From: Jacob

Showed up last night but didn't talk. Left a note saying that Stacey didn't follow the rules and that Amber and Janie would pay. They were fine but we are all being followed.

I couldn't wait to hear his response to that. I sat at the table and ate my chips. At least I know I'm not crazy and that I was a paranoid freak for a reason.


	16. Chelsea's Story

**We're getting closer to the middle of the story. Hope you enjoy! Review!**

**Disclaimer: I am not writing this as my own. All characters and ideas belong to Laurie faria Stolarz**

Stacey POV

I didn't sleep at all last night. I would have given anything for Jacob to stay because I know sleep would have came easy if he was here.

Amber and Janie slept a little. Most of the night they stared up at the ceiling. Things are definitely going to be different now. Conversations with random people will be nonexistent. Amber and Janie can't go to parties with people they just met. All of us are going to have to stick together and keep an eye out for ourselves.

I reach for my phone to turn the alarm off so I don't disturbed Amber and Janie.

"You might as well let it go Stacey," said Amber, "I'm awake."

I knew Janie was asleep because I could hear her quiet snoring. I guess Amber didn't get any sleep after all.

I turned the alarm off and said, "I didn't know you were awake."

"Yeah, well, after someone threatens to kill you sleep doesn't come very easy."

"Amber, I'm sorry."

"Don't be. This isn't your fault. Believe me if it was I'd totally kick your ass but it isn't. You have zero control over this."

I know I don't have control over my nightmares. Still, seeing your friends scared like this makes me feel guilty. If it wasn't for me none of this would be happening to them.

"I'm going to get in the shower," I said as I got out of bed, "Try to get some sleep."

"I'll try but I doubt it will happen considering I've been trying for seven hours."

I went to the bathroom and took a shower and got dressed. Chilly and windy was the forecast for today so I dressed in jeans and a sweater. Sleep deprivation was hitting me hard so before I went to class I stopped by the cafeteria and got a coffee. The steaming liquid warmed by throat against the chilling wind while the caffeine did it's best to wake my brain.

As I approached the history building I found very few students standing outside waiting for classes to start. I decided to go into the building and wait for my class in the entrance area.

I opened the door and found Chelsea, the girl who sits next to me in history class, standing by herself in the corner. Chelsea seemed like a nice girl so I figured I'd go over and stand by her. I'd been accustomed to standing and sitting by myself in school. It didn't bother me but it bothered some people. She's new to the area and hasn't had a very long time to make friends. People here could be monsters sometimes.

"Morning Chelsea," I said as I approached her.

She had been looking at her feet and tilted her head up ever so slightly to see who I was.

"Oh, hey Stacey," she said.

I've only talked to Chelsea twice, but in those two conversations I could tell that being quiet and reserved was not normal behavior for her.

"Is something wrong?" I asked.

"No. Nothing's wrong. I have to get to class."

With that she left and walked down the hallway in the direction of our classroom. Nothing's wrong my ass. Something was definitely wrong. Also what college student gets to class fifteen minutes early. Especially an 8:30 class.

I sat my bag on the ground and leaned up against the wall and closed my eyes. The coffee helped a little but not enough. When I opened my eyes someone stood in front of me.

"Tim! You scared me!"

"I'm sorry," he said with a chuckle, "I hope your heart is still intact."

"You're lucky it is or I'd make you have a heart transplant and give me yours."

"Well, I'm sorry. Let's start over- Good morning Stacey."

"Morning Tim."

"How was your night?"

Ten minutes was all that remained of our time before class. That was not nearly enough time to tell the story of last night.

"It was eventful. I didn't sleep at all though."

"Yeah tell me about it. Future advice, never stay up late and play beer pong. You lose sleep and have a hangover in the morning."

"Advice taken."

We talked a little while longer and then went to class. When I walked through the door, Chelsea was in her seat with her head down on her desk. I sat in my seat and opened my book and prepared for class. The whole time she didn't even touch her book. The only time she touched her binder was when she had to turn in her history paper. She didn't take one single note. Usually she's the girl that writes everything the professor says and does it a mile a minute.

Soon class was over and I packed my stuff up. I was going to talk to Chelsea but when I looked up she had already left the room. Girl's got speed.

I stood up and walked out of the classroom.

I was about halfway down the hallway when I heard, "Stacey!"

I turned around and found Chelsea behind me.

"Do you have a minute?"

I looked at the time and said, "Yeah my next class doesn't meet for twenty minutes."

"Uh, can we sit down somewhere?"

"Yeah let's go to the waiting area."

I knew it. I was just shocked she decided to tell me. In the waiting area, there are chairs and tables that students can use. We sat down across from each other.

"So..," I said, "What is it?"

"Friday when I got back to my dorm room there was a bouquet of red roses waiting by my door."

"That's sweet. Were they from your boyfriend?"

"No. I don't have a boyfriend."

"Well who were they from?"

"I don't know. The card only said that they wanted to meet me somewhere. Just the two of us."

An eerie feeling rose into my veins. Roses. Roses could have been sent from anyone.

"Maybe they're from a secret admirer," I said trying to rationalize the situation.

"Yeah that's what I thought until it happened again. Twice to be exact."

"They sent you the same roses and card three times?"

"Well yeah but the locations changed. The second time it happened they were by my car and then the third time they were in the library."

My hands began to sweat so I kept the conversation going, "Are you scared?"

"Not necessarily. I'm just freaked out. I mean if you're my secret admirer don't send me a creepy card with roses and then leave them in strange locations. That's not the way to win my heart."

"Well I know we just met, but if you need something or need someone to talk to, call me. I'll give you my number. You can call whenever you want."

"Thanks. Not being from the area has made it difficult to make friends. Everyone seems to have their own circle of friends. I know we just met and we're not technically good friends but I think we're going to be."

We exchanged numbers and said goodbye and headed to our next class. The whole time Chelsea was talking I had an eerie feeling running throughout my whole body.

Someone was leaving her roses with cards telling her they wanted to meet her somewhere. It sounded strangely similar to the note I received. This could be all a coincidence. The roses and cards could be from a guy who's just too shy to say anything to her.

But I don't believe in coincidences and this is all I have. The night of the full moon is getting closer and this is the only thing that I could possibly connect to my nightmares. The woman is my nightmares could quite possibly be Chelsea.

Then it hit me. The letter "C". Chelsea. Another connection to my nightmares. She could be her. The woman I hear screaming for help at night. In the near future I'm going to have to become close friends with Chelsea. Keeping a close eye on her whenever I can.

I finished my day with a sense of adrenaline in my veins. I called Jacob at lunch and told him about Chelsea. He also thinks she is someone worth looking into. She has to many connections to my nightmares.

When I got back in the dorm Amber and Janie were there.

"Oh you made it," said Amber.

"Why wouldn't I?" I said.

"Well since we've got about an ounce of energy and the fact you woke up an hour before we did, we thought you would be passed out in a hallway somewhere," said Janie.

"Coffee is my friend on days like this," I said.

"This Red Bull became my lover today," Amber said.

I guess I better tell Amber and Janie about Chelsea. The more people that can look out for her the better.

"Guys I have some news about the whole nightmare thing," I said.

"Do tell," said Amber.

I told Amber and Janie about how Chelsea was acting strange and suddenly after class told me what was affecting her behavior.

"It makes sense," said Janie, "Stalkerish cards, creepy feelings, and the letter "C". It all fits."

"Well if this for real at least the stalker sent her roses. I mean who is she? Megan Fox?" said Amber.

"Amber, the girl's life could be in danger," said Janie.

"Yeah but at least she got roses," she said.

"Roses are not, we all have to keep an eye on her. I don't want to tell her about my nightmares. That hasn't really worked out too well in the past."

"So you want us to stalk her to protect her from another stalker?" said Janie, "That's twisted."

"Yeah but it can save her life," I said.

"Okay, I'll stalk Ms. Universe," said Amber.

"Good because I need you guys' help," I said.

"Well since we all made ourselves stalkers, why don't we head to the cafeteria for dinner," said Janie, "I don't know about you guys but I'm going to bed early."

Amber and I agreed and we all went to the cafeteria for dinner. We then came back to the room and did some homework and talked a little. By 8:30 we were all in bed deep into sleep

I'm back in the woods. The woods where I hear the woman screaming. That woman could be Chelsea. It's dark and the wind blows through the trees and chills my face.

In the distance I see the soft glow of a light. The light is my final destination. The place where the woman is and the place where I can end this. I slowly walk through the mud and make my way around the brush.

Then I hear the ear shattering scream of the woman, "Help! You don't understand! This isn't what I wanted!"

I start to jog since every time I run something seems to stop me. My heart beats like a hummingbird as I start to go faster. I come to a thick log laying horizontally on the ground. As I put my leg over it, I hear the breathing. It feels like it's in my ears. The same way you can hear a fly buzzing around your ear.

I ignore it. I put my other leg over the log and start running. Maybe this time I can make it. The light gets brighter with each step I take. Then in the near distance I see Trevor.

"Trevor!" I yell.

He turns and says, "I have to tell you something."

"Trevor you always have to tell me something!" I yell back.

I run past him. I'm so close to the light.

The woman screams again, "Help! You don't understand! This isn't what I wanted!"

"I'm almost there!" I yell.

I've never made it this close. I now can verify that the light is a fire. A fire that roars up into the sky. I think I'm going to make it until it hits me. The hard object that smacks me right in the forehead and knocks me to the ground. The pain is agonizing. And the woman screams again. The ground feels cold and wet. I can feel my body sinking into the mud.

The opening in the trees above reveals the full moon. Its beautiful light shines down upon the forest ground and reveals a body to my right.

"Jacob?" I say.

And then I wake up.


	17. Drama

**Disclaimer: I am not writing this as my own. All characters and ideas belong to Laurie faria Stolarz**

Jacob POV

I sit in the library at an empty hardwood desk. Several people are scattered about other tables. The autumn sun shines through the stained glass windows and I can feel the warmth of it on my face. I wait for Stacey's number to appear on the caller I.D. on my cell phone. I text her earlier and told her I would be in the library.

Yesterday around lunch time, she called me and told me about Chelsea. Stacey thinks that Chelsea could be the woman in her nightmares. I agree with her. Receiving a bouquet of roses once from an anonymous person is one thing. But receiving them two more times in unlikely locations is another. Especially when the card attached says that they want to meet up somewhere and be alone. Who would actually respond to that?

Besides the roses, there is also the fact that her name begins with a "C". Some connections exist between Chelsea and Stacey's nightmares but not all. Stacey and the rest of us need to keep watch over her. Especially Stacey since she is the person Chelsea opened up to.

That is the reason I am in the library waiting on Stacey to call. The air outside was crisp and when the cold wind blew against my face it felt like needles puncturing my skin. The library was the closest building to where Stacey's last class was held. Walking back all the way to the dorms in this chilly weather wasn't rational. Both of us are going over to Porsha's to meet up with her and Trevor. We need to make a plan on how to watch over Chelsea without being intrusive. Someone could possibly be stalking her and I don't want her to feel like we are stalking her too.

Finally my phone lights up and reveals Stacey's number. Thankfully I remembered to change my phone's setting to silent before I came here. Mrs. Williams, the librarian, looks down upon using phones in the library but she'll have to get over it because I'm not standing outside.

I hold the phone to my ear and quietly say, "Hey."

"My class got out early so I'm on my way."

"Okay, I'll see you in a minute."

I hung the phone up and began walking towards the door. Several minutes passed by and soon I was able to see Stacey walking towards the building. The collar of her navy picot raised up to her ears and her hands rested in her pockets. Her beautiful brown hair blew in the wind while I took in her beauty. Sometimes I find myself in situations where I just sit back and admire Stacey, similar to what I'm doing now.

I open the door and walk outside into the chilly air.

"Gosh, it's only early fall," said Stacey as she approached me, "It shouldn't be this cold outside."

"Yeah, well, it means it's going to be a very cold winter," I said as I moved my hands up and down her arms to warm her.

"Great. I look forward to getting frostbite."

"I won't let that happen. I'll be here to keep you warm."

She smiled and looked into my eyes for a brief moment and said, "We better get going. The faster we get there the closer we'll be to warmth."

She wrapped her arms around one of mine and we set off towards Porsha's house. Once we arrived, Porsha seated us in her living room while serving Trevor, Stacey, and I with hot chocolate. Stacey then began to tell Chelsea's story.

"So are you good friends with Chelsea?" asked Porsha after Stacey had finished.

"Not really," said Stacey, "I've only talked to her twice. I don't know why she told me. I guess she feels comfortable around me."

"There you go," Trevor said, "Just hang around her all the time."

"Well Stacey can't be around her all the time," I said, "We need help from others too."

"Jacob's right," she said, "I don't want her to think I'm stalking her."

"Could Amber and Janie get to know her?" asked Porsha.

"I've asked them to help me keep an eye on her," said Stacey, "but I think we need someone she already is familiar with. You know so she doesn't feel bombarded all of a sudden."

It would be suspicious if all of us suddenly wanted to be friends with her. I think that would make her trust us less not more.

"You said she doesn't really have any friends," said Trevor, "Who could you get besides Amber and Janie to do it? PJ?"

"Oh no," I said, "PJ would make things worse than they are."

Knowing PJ he would probably just hit on her the entire time.

"I know," Stacey said, "Tim."

"Who's Tim?" asked Porsha.

"Tim's a guy I met last semester. He knows about my nightmares. Plus, Chelsea made a comment about him the first time she saw him. He's friendly so I don't think it would be obvious."

This was something I was not aware of. Stacey never told me Tim knew about her nightmares. I wonder what else she hasn't told me about Tim?

"You trust him?" asked Porsha.

I looked at Stacey and waited for her reply.

"Yeah, I do," she said.

"Well there you go," said Trevor, "The next time you see Tim ask him about it."

"At least we have a plan now," said Porsha.

"Okay the next time I see him I'll talk to him about it," Stacey said, "There's something else I need to tell you guys though."

I glanced at Stacey. I thought the only news she needed to tell them was about Chelsea. I guess she forgot to tell me.

"I had another nightmare last night. It was the same one but someone else made an appearance."

We all looked at her and waited for her to tell us the identity of the guest. I was not expecting what she was going to say.

"You were in my nightmare last night," she said as she faced me.

"Me?" I said.

"At least I'm not the only one now," said Trevor, "I guess I was getting lonely."

"What was I doing?" I asked.

"You were just laying there staring up at the sky," she said.

"He was star gazing?" asked Porsha with a cocked eyebrow.

"Yeah basically," she said.

"Maybe I was in it because of what happened the other night," I said.

Why else would I be in her nightmares?

"Yeah you're probably right," she said.

"Yeah when I was dreaming about Trevor random people showed up in them sometimes," said Porsha, "It's just your premonitions mixed with normal dreams."

"That makes sense," said Stacey.

"Well if we're all done here I have to go," said Trevor as he sat his cup down.

"So soon?" said Porsha.

"Yeah we should be going to," I said, "The more late it gets the colder it gets."

With that we said our goodbyes and headed back to campus. We had a plan. A plan that involved Tim. I just don't understand why Stacey didn't tell me about Tim. Another person knowing about her nightmares is a big deal. We both were hungry so we decided to eat dinner in the cafeteria.

On the way we had a little discussion about the whole Tim ordeal if that's what you would call it.

"Stacey why didn't you tell me about Tim knowing?" I asked.

"I guess I forgot to tell you."

"So when did you do it?"

"He already had a good idea about what was going on. We hung out a lot last semester. I just confirmed it."

"But still. You've only known the guy for ten months. How much could you possibly trust him?"

"The same amount of when you showed up at my doorstep two years saying that I was in danger. How was I supposed to know you weren't this crazy guy who was just trying to get in my head."

We now stood in front of the cafeteria but neither of us went in. This was something we had to talk about, no matter how it ended.

"Look," she said, "He was a good friend to me when I really needed one. That's one of the reasons why I trust him. You were gone Jacob. What was I supposed to do?"

"I don't know. I just don't know why you trust random people."

"He's not random!"

The argument was getting heated. The cold air seemed secondary compared to this argument. We both stood our grounds.

"You haven't even known him a year Stacey!"

"You haven't known Trevor for very long either but you trusted him before you trusted me!"

"That's because I went through hell with him. I didn't remember you anyways at first. How was I supposed to trust a stranger!"

I could tell by the look in her eyes that I hurt her. She always knew that when we were first reunited she was a stranger to me. Trevor was the only friend I had. The person that I went through hell with. Why would I trust a stranger over my best friend?

"He can help us," she said in a lower voice.

"Yeah he can," I said.

"Then why can't you let me trust him?" she said.

"Because Stacey!"

I looked towards the cafeteria and saw the last person I wanted to see standing in the doorway.

Tim.

I was not going in there and since neither of us was going to back down I said, "You know what? I'm not hungry. And I'm not going to stand out here and freeze my ass off and argue about something pointless. If you don't want to walk home alone I'm sure Tim will take you. See you later."

I turned and started making my way back to the dorms. I didn't like hurting Stacey. But now was not the time to keep things from each other. Especially things of this nature.

Arguing and yelling at each other defiantly warmed me up, but now I was feeling the cold. I cupped my hands around my mouth and blew hot air out. A part of me wanted to turn back and apologize even though I felt I was right. I despise drama and now I was centered in it.

Since it was fall, the days were shorter. The sun fell out of the sky earlier than it did in the summer. I stayed on the sidewalk that led back to the dorms. The falling sun cast strange shadows down upon the trees and buildings. The leaves painted a mix of autumn colors fell to the ground and crunched underneath my feet. The howling wind rippled through the trees of the forest. Listening to the sounds of nature brought comfort to me.

I hadn't done magic in a while. For some reason I've felt disconnected from nature in the past but now I feel otherwise. I pulled out my phone to check the time. My fingers were numbed from the wind so when I held my phone I dropped it.

That wasn't the first time I've dropped it on concrete so I wasn't surprised when it didn't shatter into a million pieces when it hit the hard ground. Only the battery came off.

I bent down to retrieve my phone with my back facing towards the woods. As I was trying to maneuver the battery back in place, I heard the noise of crunching leaves. I figured the noise came from another student passing along the sidewalk. When no one came past me, I looked up.

On the ground next to me, I saw the shadows the sun had made from its brilliant rays. Some shadows were of trees, others of benches and signs. But one in particular caught my eye.

The shadow of a person laid across the ground. Someone stood behind me. I snapped the battery on but before I could turn around the person, whoever they were, was running. Their footsteps echoed out from the forest.

I ran alongside the forest trying to catch up with them. Could this be them? The person in the building? The person who threatened Amber and Janie? The person who has been following me?

I considered myself in good shape but running in stiff jeans and an oversized jacket was not the way to go. I squinted my eyes into the forest as I ran trying to get a glimpse of the watcher.

Then of all a sudden the footsteps stopped. The sound of smashing leaves disappeared. The only sound came from my breathing. Damn.

Now they're getting stupid. Before they were making me think I was crazy. Now they're just being reckless. Imaginary things don't make shadows are run through the woods at full speed. They're being carefree and sooner or later I would force them to make an appearance.


	18. A Kodak Moment

**Probably not the chapter for Jacob lovers. This chapter is more about Tim. Still read and enjoy and review!**

**Disclaimer: I am not writing this as my own. All characters and ideas belong to Laurie faria Stolarz**

Stacey POV

I hated fighting with Jacob. Come to think of it we've never really fought before like we just did. Saying the things I said hurt me just as much as it hurt him. I don't think he realizes the magnitude of what I went through when he didn't remember me, the girl he loved.

Tim stood for my new beginning of trying to move on after Jacob. That night last semester in Tim's dorm room when I practically mulled him brought a new light to my eyes. Tim could have easily just sat there and not have stopped me but he did. He knew even in the short amount of time we knew each other that I still loved and wanted Jacob. He's a friendly, trustworthy guy. He's given me no reason to not trust him.

Jacob normally doesn't come off as being a jealous guy. I'm starting to think jealously is an evil quality everyone has deep down inside of them. He should put what he feels about Tim aside and continue on with the plan for Chelsea's sake.

After Jacob walked away, I sat on the weathered bench outside of the cafeteria. The setting sun hung low in the sky and the powerful crisp wind swirled colorful leaves around the grounds. New England has always been home to me. Usually I dreaded this time of year. It meant that winter would soon arrive and bring ice and snow along with it. But as I was sitting on the old bench, I realized that in less than a week Chelsea could possibly never see this beautiful sight again. I couldn't let the fight distract me. I have to try everything I can to stop my nightmare from happening. No matter what it takes.

I knew at the moment that Tim was sitting in the cafeteria eating dinner. Jacob had brought his location to my attention during our fight. The first part of the plan was to immediately talk to Tim and ask him if he would help us. My chance had arrived.

As I walked to the door, a group of people exited the cafeteria laughing and acting like they had not a care in the world. Some people get all the luck in life.

I passed the exuberant group and entered the cafeteria. As soon as I walked through the door, Tim noticed me. He waved me over to join him and I obliged.

"What's going on?" he said as he pulled my chair out for me to sit.

I could tell him about the fight I just had with my boyfriend over him, but I decided against it.

"Just the usual. Trying to stop a psychopath."

"You got anymore leads?" he asked.

"Yeah a big one actually," I said while I rummaged through my wallet for a five dollar bill.

"What did you find out?" he said.

"I'm going to get some food and then I'll fill you in," I said as I looked in the last place in my wallet cash would possibly be. Unfortunately cash deemed nonexistent in my wallet. Amber must have taken the bill while I showered this morning. Probably for coffee or an energy drink.

"Well never mind," I said giving up, "I don't have any cash."

"I'm not going to let you go hungry," Tim said as he pulled his wallet from his back pocket, "I'll pay."

"No it's okay. We probably have some snacks back in our dorm."

"Cookies and chips are hardly dinner Stacey," he said rising from his chair, "Come on."

I ate only a bag of Doritos for lunch, so my stomach felt kind of empty. Chicken, mashed potatoes, and corn sounded really good. Tim shouldn't pay for my dinner, but he insisted and seemed persistent. It wouldn't hurt anything, plus I can pay him back later.

"Fine," I said as I rose from my chair, "I promise I'll pay you back."

"You can try but I won't let you," he said as he flashed his perfect pearly white smile.

"These potatoes are really good," I said after sitting down and taking a bite.

"What's really good is when you mix the corn in with the potatoes," he said as he performed the task.

"That's weird and gross," I said while watching him eat the mixture.

"It all goes down the same tube," he said defending himself.

I laughed at his defensive face and continued on with my meal. I always had fun when I was around Tim. The atmosphere changed from dark and dreary to light and airy.

After we both finished our dinner, I brought up the conversation we were having before we ate.

"I have something to ask you," I said after taking a sip of water.

"I'm not gay," he said seriously.

"What?" I said without a straight face.

"Nothing, what were you going to ask me?" he said.

I readjusted in my seat and said, "I need you to act like you like Chelsea."

"Yeah, sure," he said quickly.

"Really?" I asked.

That was easy.

"Sure, one question though. Who's Chelsea."

I knew that was to easy.

"She sits by me in history class," I said trying to light a light bulb in his mind.

He stared blankly at me.

"She has blonde hair, green eyes, and is kind of tall," I said.

"Oh yeah I know who you're talking about," he said with a grin.

"I don't what to know," I said.

He may be a nice guy but he's still a guy.

"What do you want me to do," he asked, "Go to her and say "hey, I like you. Let's hang out."

"You don't have to be that blunt," I said.

"Oh so you want me to work on her with my smooth ways," he said with a British accent, "You know like the British guy from the vampire movie."

"Exactly, but not as obsessive. I need you to get to know her well over the next couple of days. This whole thing is going down on Saturday night so we have to hurry."

"Stacey that's only six days away," he said with worry.

"I know," I said confidently, "That's why we have to hurry. We don't have a lot of time."

"Have you got other people helping out," he asked.

"Amber and Janie are helping. But I needed you to since she kind of already seems to have a liking for you," I said.

"Well I'm flattered," he said with his hand placed over his heart.

"You never know, you may end up with a liking for her," I said sarcastically.

"No that won't happen," he said sitting back in his chair.

"Why not?" I questioned.

He leaned towards me and peered at me with his muddy-brown eyes and said, "Because I already like someone."

I've known Tim has had a crush on me. He's knows I'm with Jacob but for some reason that doesn't seem to change the way he feels.

But his words made me blush, "Maybe you need to find someone new."

"I tried, it didn't work."

A nervous feeling arose inside of me. A feeling that I shouldn't feel around Tim. At night the cafeteria workers dimmed the lights down some. Wall sconces became the main lighting source. The dimmed lights enhanced Tim's beauty as he moved closer to me.

"Maybe you should try harder," I suggested with a nervous hint in my words.

Just then a single strand of hair fell from behind my ear. I was just about to push it away when Tim raised his hand a brushed the strand back behind my ear. His touch sent a nervous rush through my body. This shouldn't be happening. His faced stayed mere inches away from mine.

"I'll get to know Chelsea," he said with a quiet voice, "For you," he added.

With that he stood up from his chair and uttered two words, "Goodnight Stacey."

I watched him as he walked across the floor and out of the building. I took a deep breath. What had just happened? We were having a good time and talking about the plan. I shouldn't feel the nervous feelings around Tim. I should feel them with Jacob. I wish Tim would move on so I don't have to keep feeling guilty when I'm around him. Maybe the fight with Jacob earlier really wasn't about trust. Maybe it was jealously.

Asking Tim to walk me back to the dorm was something else I wanted to ask him. But with what just transpired, I weighed out that question. A woman walking alone at night on a college campus proved dangerous multiple times. Especially when a certain girl named Stacey has a crazy stalker following her.

I finished my glass of water and then asked the cafeteria worker to call campus security to walk me home. Within five minutes after the worker made the call, a tall man in a white security officer's uniform walked through the door. He introduced himself and then led me out of the cafeteria.

It didn't take long before we approached my dorm building. The security officer wished me a goodnight and then preceded to leave.

As I walked over the threshold of the dorm, my phone rang. I hoped the screen would say Jacob. I needed to talk to him especially after what happened with Tim. I hated fights and I really didn't want this one to carry over longer than it should. To my surprise the screen revealed Chelsea's number. I immediately answered the phone.

"Hello?"

"Hey it's me, Chelsea."

Her voice seemed frantic and broken.

"Is something wrong?"

"A little."

"What do you mean a little?"

"I got another bouquet except this time the note is somewhat different."

"What does it say?"

"It says that they want me to meet them Thursday night by the woods on the bottom of Crest hill."

Thursday night at the bottom of Crest hill? That doesn't make sense. Thursday night the moon won't be full. At the bottom of the hill by the woods was never in my nightmares. Chelsea had no knowledge about my nightmares so I kept the conversation going.

"I'm sorry this is happening Chelsea," I said with empathy.

I truly felt sorry for her. I know what it feels like to be scared out of your mind. Luckily for her she doesn't know what her fate could possibly be.

"Should I go and just get it over with," she questioned.

A normal person who doesn't have premonitions about people's deaths would say, "Are you out of your mind?" Under these circumstances, I didn't have to answer her. Whether I told her yes or no, she would go meet up with this person anyways. My nightmares have proven to be truthful. Even if I didn't know, I would recommend her to go. Because if she didn't, it would never end.

"I think you should," I said.

Chelsea hesitated and then said, "You're right. Get it over with."

We talked more and then she told me she was going to the new nightclub The Rave tomorrow night. She asked if I wanted to go but I turned her down. I would be there all right but not with her. Another plan will have to go into action. I know the perfect person who would accompany me.

We said our goodbyes and hung up and I climbed the staircase up to the floor that housed my room. As I walked down the hallway, conversations of make-up and celebrities filled the air. When I opened our door, I found Amber sitting on the floor painting her nails fluorescent neon green.

"Hey Stacey," she said as she painted her last naked nail green.

"Where's Janie," I asked.

Amber screwed the top back on the polish and carefully stood up and sat on the bed.

"She got asked out by this guy in our English class," she said while rolling her eyes.

"Is that a bad thing," I asked hesitantly.

"No, he's just a total hottie."

"Amber, how many times do I have to tell you. You have PJ. Stop hovering over other guys."

"I know," she said as she slapped the bed, "I hate being monogamous."

"It's called being in a relationship," I said as I changed into sweatpants and a t-shirt.

"Why don't we talk about you now," she said bubbly, "What did you do today?"

Answering that question could take days.

"Well I went to Porsha's with Jacob and talked with her and Trevor about Chelsea. Then me and Jacob got in a big fight and…"

"Wait. What?" Amber interrupted.

"We got into a fight about Tim," I said.

"I told you Abercrombie would cause trouble!"

"It didn't help that I had to talk to him about helping out with Chelsea, or that he bought me dinner because someone took my money out of my wallet," I said obviously talking about Amber.

"I needed money for some energy drinks," she said defending herself, "The other night's scare fest caused me some sleep deprivation."

"Stuff like that can't happen," I said mostly talking to myself.

Amber could sense my discomfort.

"Oh come on Stacey. Jacob can't stay made at you for long."

Maybe the old one.

"Never mind that. I need you to do something with me."

"Is it something illegal?" she asked while she sat next to me.

"No, it's something you've done with me before."

You could see the question mark on her face so I just said, "Tomorrow night I need you to go with me to spy on Chelsea."

Her eyes lit up.

"Hell yeah! I miss those late night stake outs."

I knew she would say yes.

"Chelsea called me and told me another bouquet arrived along with a new note saying to meet her on Crest hill Thursday night."

"I thought you said you wanted me to go tomorrow night," she asked.

I corrected her and told her that tomorrow Chelsea was going to The Rave and that we needed to spy on her just in case. Thursday as unlikely as it seemed was the big night.

"This whole sequence has been fucked up from the start. I mean usually you have weeks to figure your nightmares out. This time it was only a couple of weeks."

"I know but we have to wing it. Time is not of the essence this time around."

"Yeah but usually your nightmares are true. It should be Saturday in the woods, not Thursday on a hill by the woods."

"That's what's bugging me actually," I said, "But I don't have time to question it."

"True. So, can we wear leather tomorrow night?"

"Why in the hell would we wear leather?"

"Because it would look freakin' awesome!"

"Amber I am not looking like a dominatrix while I'm spying on a girl."

"Why not? We're going to a club!"

"No!"

"Come on Stacey!"

I can't believe I went from being in a fight with my boyfriend about trust to being in a fight about looking like a dominatrix. Life's natural comedic moments. Don't you love them?

**Stacey and Tim. A better match? Any ideas of who the stalker is? Tell me what you think and** **review!**


	19. Do You Love Me?

**Sometimes two people are meant to be with each other. I can't deny it. Here you go! Review!**

**Disclaimer: I am not writing this as my own. All characters and ideas belong to Laurie faria Stolarz**

Jacob POV

So who was going to make the first move, Stacey or me? This fight had gone on long enough. We haven't talked yesterday. I still felt that Tim shouldn't be trusted so easily. Apparently, Stacey set her mind on trusting Tim a long time ago. My words and feelings didn't seem to have an effect on her. I did feel the need to apologize to her. Apologize for the way I talked to her, not the way I felt. No matter what either of us feels, we have to proceed with the plan. Tim can be useful so it would be smart to get his help.

Classes today were the usual boring torture. During my lunch break, I came at a crossroads of whether to call Stacey or not. This fight could ultimately cause a rift in our relationship. Apologizing over the phone seemed like a douche move under these circumstances. I decided that after my last class I would walk to her dorm and talk to her. Stacey's day ended before mine so there's a good chance she would be in her room.

As I made my way to Stacey's, I contemplated on what I would say. I'm sorry for how I said things but I'm not sorry about how I feel? Would she approve of that? Would she even apologize to me?

About halfway during my walk, I found myself on the sidewalk by the woods where our stalker made an appearance. I stopped for a minute and peered into the woods. I knew no one would be present but the task was something I felt like I had to do. I raised my head and gazed up towards the sky. The lush tops of the trees danced as the wind blew by them. The sound of bird's chirping echoed through the forest. It's mind blowing that in this world of beauty there can be such evil things.

During lunch, our victim ate in the cafeteria. She sat and ate with some people that I assumed were her friends. The group talk loudly but Chelsea didn't add anything to the lively conversation.

Poor girl.

A little while later, the time came where I needed to head to my next class. Simultaneously, Chelsea stood up and threw her trash away and preceded towards the door. I figured she had a class and since her life's at stake, I decided to follow and watch over her. I hadn't noticed before but apparently her professor held her class in the same building as mine. She walked about twenty yards in front of me. Not once did she ever look around or behind her. Along the way, nothing suspicious or strange happened. At that moment her safety remained intact.

I continued my way along the sidewalk towards Stacey's dorm. The fateful night was now only five days away. We haven't even got a clue of the stalker's identity.

Lately my paranoia has been dormant. A stronger feeling has arose inside of me, anxiety. Since my return from the camp, I've felt anxious from time to time. When I arrived here at Beacon, paranoia quickly diminished the anxiety. Of course I visited doctor's back in Colorado and told them about it. Ever since I lived here, I haven't seen a doctor. Maybe I need to make an appointment.

Most of my anxiety is about Chelsea. Would we fail or would we succeed? That was the main worry. But even though I felt anxious over Chelsea, I still felt a sense of anxiety over my life. Just like I did at the camp. I have a feeling the anxiety would not end over Chelsea, so I think seeing a doctor would be a smart move for my own personal sanity.

I finally arrived at Stacey's dorm. I held the main door open for a group of girls who talked like they were from a valley in California.

After holding the door for about fifteen people and receiving only three thanks, I climbed the stairs towards Stacey's room. Anyone who walked these halls could tell that girls lived here. The hallways and doors appeared as though a giant pink bubble exploded in them. The door that interested me had not a hint of pink on it.

I knocked on her door several times. No one answered. I guess Stacey went somewhere after her class. Amber and Janie hardly are ever home. I could leave her note but if Stacey opened the door and saw a piece of paper on the floor, she might think it was from the stalker. I sure as hell didn't want to freak her out. That wouldn't help my case at all. My professors didn't assign any homework or assignments for tonight so I figured I would wait on the front steps until she arrived.

I sat uncomfortably on the hard concrete steps. Now and then a girl in the distance would look like Stacey but as they drew nearer I would realize they were in fact not. I pulled out my cell phone and played a card game as I sat in boredom. Girls would come in and out of the building and I would have to scoot over as to not be in their way.

Finally after about an hour, Stacey's figure came into the distance. I stared at her as I had done in the library the other day. She held a binder in her hands and was reading from it. This caused her to not see me sitting patiently on the steps looking at her. She soon closed the binder and looked up. I could see in her body language that she made the realization of my location.

I stood up and uncrossed my arms and rested them by my side. As she approached me, I forgot the words I was going to say.

She spoke up first, "What are doing here?"

I could tell from her words that she remained upset. I thought about what I could say, but then I decided to just go with the obvious.

"I came her to apologize," I said wholeheartedly.

She lowered her head and her eyes drifted towards the ground. She then reached into her bag and pulled out her keys.

"Let's go inside," she said walking pass me up the stairs.

I followed her into the building and up the stairs. We didn't say a word as we walked. Standing in public in the cold was not the place to have the conversation we were about to hold. She unlocked the door and led me inside. The room filled with awkwardness as we stood inside of it. We both took off our jackets and laid them across her bed. She sat down and I did as well.

"Stacey," I said facing my body towards hers, "I'm sorry the way I said things. You don't deserve to be treated like that."

She didn't speak so I continued, "I still stand by my feelings. But I have to respect your decision."

She shook her head up and down and whispered, "Thanks."

I took her hand and rested my forehand against hers. Yesterday in our fight, I told Stacey the reason I trusted Trevor before I trusted her was because she was a stranger to me. I know it's the truth but telling that to Stacey obviously hurt her the most.

"You're the most important thing in my life," I said while looking into her eyes, "I don't want to hurt you."

"If I'm the most important thing to you, why can't you say it?" she asked with her eyes narrowed.

I knew exactly what words she was referring to. I feel that I do love Stacey. For some reason, I can't say it. I don't know if it's the timing in our lives or if I'm questioning it. I don't know.

After I didn't respond Stacey stood up in front of me and said, "You can't do it. You physically can't say it."

Tears started welling up in her eyes while I said, "Stacey…I'm sorry."

"I love you with everything I have. I'm positive you loved me before but now I'm not so sure. Sometimes I feel like you do but something stops you from saying it."

Seeing her standing in front of me and crying killed me. I wish there was a way I could let her see what goes on in my heart. She moved over to the window and appeared to be looking out but I doubt her eyes saw the outdoors. I had to get her to understand that maybe time would be the medicine that could end this.

"Stacey, come here," I said offering my hand to her.

She hesitated but then soon took my hand and gracefully sat in my lap. She rested her head on my shoulder and I wiped the glistening tears off her cheeks that fell from her beautiful eyes.

"I don't want you to give up on me," I said, "I'm still healing."

"I'd never give up on you," she said as she looked into my eyes for the first time.

I leaned towards her and kissed her gently on the lips. We sat on her bed and held our embrace for some time. But even though our emotions were high, we still had to bring up the topic of Chelsea.

I spoke up and said, "I followed Chelsea today. Nothing happened."

She pushed her hair behind her ears and got up and went over to her dresser. She delicately wiped the tear stains off her face with a tissue.

"I talked to Tim," she said hesitantly, "He said he would help."

I had to be fair to Stacey so I said, "That's good."

She lowered herself onto the bed next to me and said, "She got another bouquet with another note."

She then continued to tell me about the conversation she had with Chelsea and that the night seemed to be Thursday instead of Saturday. It confused me just as much as it confused Stacey. It didn't match up but like Stacey said we don't have time to question things. We almost have to act impulsively. Stacey then said that her and Amber were going to "spy" on Chelsea tonight at The Rave.

"Why don't you just go with her instead of spying on her," I questioned.

"Well the stalker knows who I am and if they see me with her they may not make a move."

She was right. As strange as it sounds, we want this person to come forward. Mostly so we can find out their true identity. We talked more about the job Stacey and Amber would perform tonight. I almost considered going with her but last time I went two people's lives were threatened.

"Be careful tonight," I said as I stood up from the bed.

"Where are you going?" Stacey asked as she stood next to me.

"Amber will probably be here soon, I don't want to take her wrath," I said as I moved towards the door assuming that Stacey told Amber about our fight.

"No, stay," she said as she wrapped her arms around my waist and rested her head on my back, "She won't be here for another hour. I want you here with me."

As soon as I turned around, her lips were on mine. Our kisses were fast and impatient and nothing like the tender kiss we shared earlier. I placed my hands behind her knees and lifted her up. She wrapped her legs around my waist and I made my way towards the bed. I laid her down below me and we continued kissing and taking each other in. Deep down inside, we both knew we loved each other. Verbal expression didn't seem to come into play at the moment.


	20. Just Dance

**Disclaimer: I am not writing this as my own. All characters and ideas belong to Laurie faria Stolarz**

Stacey POV

Jacob's stay lasted for about an hour before Amber arrived back at the room. We said our goodbyes and I promised to call him with the details of our night soon. The hour had been an emotional one. I want so badly for Jacob to say he loves me. When we kiss I feel the passion and the fireworks that kept me begging for more when we were together before his accident. When it's just the two of us alone in a room, our attention is fully focused on each other. For some reason, his actions don't seem to be corresponding to his feelings inside. I just wish I knew a spell that could magically turn Jacob back into the boy I knew before. The boy I loved so dearly. The boy before the hurt, the confusion, and the paranoia. No such spell exists and only time can heal us.

All of the emotions I felt could not overcome my feelings about the next forty-eight hours. Tonight Amber and I would spy on Chelsea at The Rave. I doubt anything would happen tonight, but a close eye had to keep watch on her. Especially since the freaky stalker sent her another bouquet of roses. I wasn't as nervous about tonight as I was about tomorrow night. Tomorrow night was the big night. Where all of our decisions would play out to be smart or stupid. Hopefully Jacob and I will be able to cast a protection spell upon Chelsea for tomorrow night. Another area where Tim will come in handy. He will be able to get us something of Chelsea's. I talked to Tim after Jacob left and he's been doing his side of the job. Today he sat with her at lunch and placed his charm upon her. Chelsea ended up telling him that she was going to the club with some girls around eight. We had a time. Amber was too excited about our "mission" as she described it. She actually spent time applying make-up and curling her hair. She even picked out an outfit for the occasion. Black jeans with a lime green belt matched with a glittery purple shirt with rainbow gloves. Her excuse for the outfit was that we were going to a club and she had to look good. In my mind I don't think she grasps the idea that we are trying to stop a psycho from killing Chelsea. But that's just Amber.

"So how are we getting there chick a dee?" Amber said as she placed an electric blue jacket over her shoulders.

Walking would take a while and the weather tonight was icy so I said, "A taxi I guess."

If Janie wasn't such a control freak we could probably take her car since Amber and I don't have cars for ourselves.

"Okay," she said as she reached into Janie's music box, "I don't have any cash so this will do."

She pulled a twenty dollar bill out of the box.

"Amber! We can't steal her money!"

"I'll pay her back," she said while closing the box and putting back in its place.

"Yeah just like you paid me back."

"I'll buy you a drink tonight to make up for it."

"With Janie's money," I said as I put on my black picot.

"It's not like she would notice anyway. She's to far up her new peppy friends asses to notice."

I paused in step and asked with a smirk, "Are you jealous?"

Amber put the money in her pocket and said, "No!"

I cocked my eyebrow at her and said, "Really?"

Her answer didn't convince me.

She scrunched her face like she wanted to say something and then finally said, "Let's go."

I laughed and followed Amber out of the room. On the way down the stairs, I called a taxi to meet us at the front gates of the dorms. The taxi soon arrived and we were both thankful since the air tonight persisted at a cold thirty five degrees.

The ride in the taxi entertained me highly. The entire time Amber sang and flirted with the driver. He seemed not to mind since he appeared to have lived a rough life. A little excitement could never hurt anyone. After about a twenty minute ride, we arrived to The Rave. Amber graciously tipped the driver and waved a flirty hand goodbye.

"Well that was a first," I said as I watched the driver speed off.

"Yeah wasn't he a sweetie," she said, "That's probably the most action he has gotten a in while."

We turned to each other and laughed and headed towards the building. The Rave was located on Myers Street and was placed between a liquor store and a party supply store. The street darkened as you walked away from the club but the street around it was lit up with bright neon lights. Myers Street was located in the run down part of town. The only reason businesses around the club keep their doors open is because The Rave. Kids and adults party here during the week and on weekends. When they want to throw their own party they can get supplies at the party store and the liquor store neighboring the club.

I glanced at my phone and saw the time as 7:48. Chelsea should be arriving soon. Benches were the only seating outside of the club so we decided to go inside. It was cold and if Chelsea saw us our plan wouldn't work.

We stood in the line at the door and gave our driver license's to the bouncer. After checking them, he gave them back and stamp our hands and led us inside. For a Wednesday night the place was packed. Mostly of college kids who didn't have class on Thursday. I wish I was so lucky. Maybe next semester.

The music blasted through the building and neon lights sparkled throughout. Waitresses in tiny outfits served customers at tables while young people danced the night away on the colorful dance floor. I pointed out a small empty table in the corner and we both walked to the table. Hardly any light shone on the table making it the perfect spot for a stake out. Behind the table on the wall hung a giant picture of Studio 54 in New York City in the 70's.

"Do you see her," Amber asked as she took her jacket off and sat down into the leather cushioned chair.

I quickly scanned the crowed room as I sat down for the blonde green eyed girl I was looking for.

"I don't think she's here yet," I told Amber leaning into her.

"While we're waiting, why don't you tell me about you and Jacob. You two seemed like you had made up or made out when I came back."

Talking about my complicated relationship in a club was not the way I pictured it. But we had time to kill so I figured what the hell, might as well vent.

"We kind of agreed to disagree about the Tim thing,"I said as I folded a napkin.

"You looked like you had been crying," she said with concern.

I put down the folded napkin and faced her, "I asked him why he can't say he loves me and he all he said was that he was sorry."

"That sucks," she said.

"Have you and PJ told each other you love the other," I asked.

My knowledge of what goes on between Amber and PJ emotionally is nonexistent. They're just not the type of people who go around talking about their relationship.

"No," she said bluntly, "Our relationship isn't like that. Don't get me wrong I care about him, but I don't want that serious of a relationship. We're in college. It's okay to have fun."

Having fun. Having fun with Jacob is something I could never do. I wish our relationship was as light and airy as Amber and PJ's. But our relationship is deep and intense. It was before and it is definitely now.

I continued on with folding the napkin when Amber said, "There's our girl."

Towards the door stood Chelsea with two other girls I had never seen before. After talking to a blonde guy standing by the door, the group of girls seated themselves at a table about twenty feet from us.

"Keep your eyes on her," I told Amber while continuing to stare at Chelsea, "But don't let her see you."

Our table was near the back of the club and little light glowed over the table, so there was a miniscule chance she would see us.

"Shouldn't we also keep an eye out for a creepy stalker guy?" Amber asked.

"Yeah if the creepy stalker is a guy," I asked.

That was the moment when I realized that I didn't even know the gender of the stalker. No clues in my nightmares had suggested the stalker's gender.

"Why would a girl stalk another girl?" Amber questioned, "I mean what's up with that? Do you have a serious urge for a bitch fit and a killing spree?"

"I don't know. Why do people stalk people in the first place?"

The irony of that statement blazed through this situation. Amber and I sat in club watching Chelsea's every move. We're not stalkers, we're watchers.

"Because they want to get a high and control people," Amber said as I noticed Chelsea getting up from the table and heading towards the dance floor.

"She's getting up," I said as I nodded toward Chelsea.

We both turned our chairs facing the wall as she passed our table with the rest of the girls.

As she walked past, Amber turned her chair and said, "Her ass looks huge in those jeans."

"Amber! The poor girl could die tomorrow night and you're making fun of her?"

"I'm not making fun of her. Believe me if I told her that she would probably be thankful. Because damn!"

Chelsea laughed and danced around on the dance floor while Amber and I kept an eye out for anyone suspicious. After ordering a few drinks and sitting at the table watching Chelsea for about two hours, the time had come to leave. The group of girls passed us walking towards the table when I heard Chelsea say that she needed to head home since she had class in the morning.

"Well this whole thing sucked!" Amber said as she finished off her drink.

"You knew this was a stake out. The stalker didn't show. I guess he's waiting to play his cards tomorrow night."

"Yeah but I can't believe I stepped foot into a club and didn't dance," she said as she grimaced at me.

I knew that look. She wanted me to dance with her.

"No! I'm not dancing. I hate dancing. Especially in front of people."

"Chelsea's gone and we're all dressed up and looking hot. I'm not wasting this and neither are you. Come on!"

She grabbed my hand and pulled me onto the dance floor. I had absolutely no rhythm acquired in my body. Dancing was not my thing but Amber would never let me leave if I didn't dance. Like Chelsea, my alarm would ring bright and early so I obliged. We danced and acted stupid for about an hour. Amber of course flirted with the guys dancing around us. Her charismatic personality always will intrigue me.

Finally we both decided to leave since neither of us could feel our feet. We called a taxi and were walking into our dorm room no less than thirty minutes later.

Janie said she had text both of us wondering where we were. The music had been to loud in the club for either of us to notice so we apologized to her. I changed and headed to the shower but before I closed the door I heard Janie ask Amber what happened to her twenty dollar bill she kept in her music box. I snickered to myself knowing the truth and continued on to the shower.

A part of me wishes that the stalker had appeared in the club tonight. Knowing their identity would help greatly. Chelsea's life was safe at least until tomorrow night.

Midnight drew near as I laid down into my bed. Amber and Janie did the same and we all turned our lights out. My feet felt horrible and I had minor headache but that pain was nothing compared to the pain I was about to experience in my nightmare.

The cold night air blows in the wind and feels like a thousand needles pricking my skin. I'm alone as I walk across the courtyard towards the woods. I look up into the sky and see the moon brilliantly illuminate the clear night sky.

Then in the distance of the woods I see the light. A dim light like a fire burning. I walk into the woods and immediately feel the mush of the wet ground pressing against my shoes. I push branches out of my way as I carefully make my way towards the light. I suddenly feel like have traveled to these woods before. I know I have to hurry because any minute the woman will scream.

I quickly pull my legs over fallen trees and stumps when my foot catches on a branch and I fall to the ground. I push myself off the ground and wipe the muddy substance from my face and hands.

All of a sudden the screaming begins, "Help! You don't understand! This isn't what I wanted!"

I remain calm since I know if I get flustered I will never get to her. To Chelsea.

I quickly maneuver my way through brush and trees trying to go as fast as I can. I quicken my pace when I come to a clearing where Trevor stands in the middle. He never listens to me but I still put my hand on his shoulder and turn him around.

The woman screams again and I ask Trevor the question I've asked him before, "Will you help me?"

At first I think he will give a different response since he hesitated but in the end he gives his usual answer,

"I have to tell you something."

"Never mind," I say as I continue my way towards the light.

The screaming is louder and sounds closer when all of a sudden a hard object hits me in the forehead. I scream out in pain and close my eyes and cover my face and fall to the ground. I anticipate the feeling of my body hitting the ground but the feeling never comes. Instead a feeling of another body comes into contact with my body. I curiously open my eyes while still holding my head and scream out in fear.

Jacob is lying underneath me with his slate blue eyes staring up into mine. He blinks and so do I. When I open my eyes he is no longer present. My body lays against the ground and I shake in fear.

Chelsea screams again and I know I'll never be able to save her. Instead tears roll out of my eyes as I press my hand to my head. When I release my hand the moonlight reveals blood on my hand. Whatever hit me obviously applied blunt force. I give one last attempt to save Chelsea by standing up. The moonlight disappears and the forest becomes silent. An eerie feeling erupts inside of me and my insides curl with fear. Then I see a silhouette of a person standing in front of me holding an object. I squint my eyes to get a better view. Then out of nowhere the person swings the object which appears to be a baseball bat and cracks it against my skull knocking me out cold.


	21. Shrinking

**It's time to dive into the mind of Jacob! Enjoy! Review!**

**Disclaimer: I am not writing this as my own. All characters and ideas belong to Laurie faria Stolarz**

Jacob POV

PJ forgot to close our drapes last night before he laid down to bed. Now nothing stops the bright glistening rays of the early morning sun from hitting me right in the face. I struggled to open my eyes against the brilliant rays. I reached for my phone and squinted my eyes to read the time on the screen. My alarm would ring loudly in about fifteen minutes. There was no point in going back to sleep. By the time I would drift off my alarm would go off.

I returned the phone back in its place on my side table, leaving the alarm on. It seemed the alarm was the only way to wake PJ.

I sat up and stretched my long arms out in front of me while my mouth opened widely and yawned. My eyes had adjusted to the bright light, and I peered over at PJ laying in his bed. His body was halfway hanging off the bed and a large spot of drool covered the sheet where his mouth hung open. I would give a lot to sleep like that. To be able to fully relax and fall into a deep sleep was something I hadn't done in years. Not ever since I started having nightmares.

Then I realized the day was Thursday. An eerie feeling arose in my stomach as I thought about the fact that Chelsea could be dead in a matter of hours. Stacey and I didn't know the time when all would go down. It's just a guessing game. This afternoon Stacey and I will be able to perform a protection spell over Chelsea. Stacey said Tim will be able to retrieve something belonging to Chelsea. Hopefully the spell will help some.

Even though the spell will be cast, I'm still nervous about tonight. Mainly because all of the pieces don't seem to be fitting together properly. It's like the jigsaw puzzle is missing some pieces. This has caused my anxiety level to skyrocket. I mean how does Trevor fit into this? The full moon? The hill? Something's not right. But we don't have time to question it.

Apparently nothing new came up last night. Stacey and Amber followed Chelsea at The Rave last night. She said she would call me and tell me the details but she probably got home late and needed to get some sleep. If she found out anything important surely she would have called. It doesn't calm my anxiety though. I just don't feel like even if we save Chelsea tonight the anxiety will go away.

Yesterday after I left Stacey's I made an appointment at Dr. Hendrix's office. She is a psychologist that my doctor back in Colorado recommended me to see while I was here at Beacon. Dr. Hendrix apparently had talked to my doctor back home and knew a lot of my story. Hopefully she will understand me and can help me. I made the appointment during my lunch break. I decided I would skip my last classes of the day giving the situation. Stacy will skip her classes too so we can get a move on for tonight.

Suddenly the loud shrieking sound of my alarm rings throughout the room. PJ slowly rolls over in his tousled sheets and rests his head face down into his pillow. I reach and turn the menacing sound off. Then PJ rises and opens his eyes to the bright sun in the room.

He immediately closes them and says, "Damn! I forgot to close the drapes!"

"Yeah you did," I said as I got out of bed.

He stands up and grabs his toothbrush and shampoo from off the floor and says, "I fucking hate mornings."

With that he slowly walks out of the room and heads towards the showers. I turn the brass handle of my closet door and open one of the doors. I shuffle through the mounds of clothes and find a pair of jeans and a black button down shirt. I need to look descent today since I'm going to the doctor. No one knows I'm going though. I don't want anyone to worry.

I was buttoning the buttons on my shirt when my phone rang. It was Stacey.

"Good morning," I said as I answered.

"Not that good of a morning."

"Yeah I know but we're prepared for tonight. Plus we're doing the protection spell later and…."

"No," she said interrupting me, "That's not what I'm talking about."

"Okay?"

Obviously something new had happened.

"I had another nightmare last night. You were there."

"Well of course I would be in it. I'm going with you tonight."

"Yeah but you weren't acting like you. You weren't even standing up. And then you disappeared."

"That's…strange."

"Yeah I know. But I do have some good news if you want to call it that."

"What?"

"I think she's going to be killed with a baseball bat. I saw a shadowy figure of someone with a bat right before they smacked me against the head with it."

"A baseball bat? A throw back to the 80's don't you think."

"Well it can sure as hell kill somebody. The figurative version of one gave me a serious head splitting headache."

"Drink some tea."

"Oh I'm way ahead of you baby. I got a whole container to last me all morning."

"Oh that's right. You're on the way to class."

"Yeah History awaits. Are you still skipping your afternoon classes?"

"Yeah I'll meet you at your dorm."

"Okay, I'll see you later."

"Alright, bye."

A baseball bat. How original. So tonight Stacey and I would walk into a cheesy 80's horror flick. How keen?

Morning classes assumed their usual position of being boring and pointless. As I was walking towards the front gate to catch a taxi to the doctor's office, I saw Chelsea walking towards the cafeteria. For some odd reason she appeared happy and joyous. That's weird considering for the past week she's been terrified over the whole stalker thing.

It seemed like I had been in the taxi for hours. The stench of wet dog roamed through the cab as the driver slowly drove through the streets. All the workers were heading to lunch causing a major traffic problem. Luckily I did make it to the doctor's office with a couple of minutes to spare. The waiting room contradicted the weather outside. An aroma of apples filled the room and the gun metal gray heater in the corner released warm air into the room. The sound of water trickling against the wall came from the water fixture hanging high above my head.

Surprisingly the waiting room chairs felt comfortable against my body. Normally the chairs are cold and hard and uncomfortable to sit on. These were cozy and warm and cushioned my body well. Only five other people were seated in the room. Two of them seemed like they were close to my age but the others looked aged and rough.

I picked up a magazine off the table sitting next to me and continued reading it until a short red headed woman in a white jacket came into the room and said, "Jacob LeBlanc."

I put the magazine back on the table and followed the woman down a hallway lined with wooden walls.

Soon we came upon two double wooden doors and the woman said, "Here you go Mr. LeBlanc."

She pushed one of the large wooden doors forward and led me inside. The room spanned the size of three normal offices. Dark wooden panels lined the walls and a giant floor to ceiling window made up the back wall. A typical leather couch sat against one of the walls while a bright yellow chair sat adjacent to the couch.

"Make yourself comfortable," the woman said with a smile as she ushered me to the couch, "Dr. Hendrix will be with you in a moment."

I flashed a smile at the woman as I sat down on the couch. She smiled back at me and closed the large door behind her as she left the room.

Dr. Hendrix's office reminded me a lot of Colorado. The wooden panels and the warm colors and the stone fireplace made it seem like I was back home. After watching a small blue fish in the fish tank in the corner swim around in circles for a couple of minutes, a knock came at the door and the wooden door opened. A tall woman with short blonde hair appeared in the doorway. She wore a fancy white business suit and a huge smile on her face.

"Hello Jacob," she said as she walked towards me and held out her hand.

"I'm Dr. Hendrix," she said as I stood up and shook hands with the tall woman.

"Hi," I said returning her gracious smile.

"Please, sit down," she said as she did so herself.

I sat down upon the leather couch. She held a clipboard in her hands.

She scribbled down something and then said, "So, Jacob. Why have you come to me?"

How could I possibly say this? I never told Dr. James back home about my nightmares. All she knew was about my experience and time at the camp.

"Um…I've just been feeling really anxious lately."

"Anxious," she said as she wrote something down on her clipboard, "Anxious about what?"

"That's what I don't understand. I don't know what I feel anxiety towards?"

"Well I think you have a lot to be anxious about, Jacob. Dr. James and I both went to the University of Colorado at Boulder. I know she recommended me to you before you came here. I know some things about your past but not all. Doctor patient confidentiality."

"So you know about the camp," I said as I leaned forward towards her.

"Well," she said with serious eyes, "everyone knows about the camp. It was the lead story in the newspaper for weeks."

"Yeah I guess so," I said leaning back in the seat of the couch.

"Jacob, I know you must have felt a lot of emotions when you were rescued. And that it might be hard to talk about what happened. But I think the key to the way you're feeling now lies within your past. Do you mind talking to me about it?"

I've never talked freely and openly about everything that happened during my stay at the camp. I told the investigators and my parents the major details they needed to know.

"It's a long, long story," I said with a sigh.

"Jacob I think you need to talk about it. And hey, we've got time."

I started telling her of my experience. Beginning with the first memory I have after I fell from the ship. Also about how things were run. The leaders and the adults and the rest of the kids. About how we all had certain jobs and chores we were expected to accomplish. I even told her about Trevor, or Brick as I had knew him there. I then got into about their way of viewing modern society and the people living in it. That media and material things were evil and that people didn't deserve them. How I helped break into houses and only stole certain things. I felt like a open door that just kept letting secrets and stories out.

"Wow," Dr. Hendrix said as I finished telling her about the day of my rescue from Clay with Trevor, Stacey, and Porsha.

I also told her some of the details about me dreaming about this girl and feeling a connection with her. And how that girl turned out to be Stacey.

"That's incredible that you had that connection with Stacey even in the worse circumstance."

"Yeah, she was really one of the two things that kept me going. And I didn't even know who she was. I didn't remember the girl that I fell in love with."

"What was the other," she questioned.

"Trevor or Brick as he was known. I couldn't leave him there. We made a promise to each other that we wouldn't leave the other behind. That day I knew something was wrong. I could have left without him. But I couldn't break my promise. I wasn't going to let him die there."

I looked down at the hardwood floor and breathed a sigh of relief. I never told anyone that. Not even Stacey. I mean Stacey knew that Trevor and I had a strong connection. I just don't think she understands the depth of it.

"That was very brave of you. Now some people after they've gone through an experience that was traumatic need closure. Do you think you have closure?"

I thought about the question for a minute.

"No, I don't think I have. I still think about it and have nightmares about it. I think getting closure would be hard."

"It is sometimes. Some people need to face the experience again to gain closure. Have you seen or faced anyone from the camp besides Trevor since then?"

"No. All of the kids are in foster homes or orphanages. The adults are either in jail or in mental institutions."

"What about the guy that tried to kill you and Trevor? What happened to him?"

"Clay's in prison in Connecticut."

We took a pause and she offered me a glass of water.

After a few silent moments she said, "If you don't mind me asking, have you established a relationship with Stacey again?"

"Yeah, she was very persistent and patient. She came to Colorado for spring break and stayed with me. She even helped me remember some things about my past. I don't know why though. For a while I was a paranoid freak."

"That's great that she did that," she said with a real smile, "Are you two still together?"

"Yeah even though were not the same couple we were before. I just feel so anxious and strange all the time."

"Have you talked to Stacey about these feelings?"

"A little. I feel like there's a limit between us. And if I go past that limit, I'll upset her."

"Has that happened?" she said looking me straight in the eyes.

"Yeah, we got into a fight a couple of days ago. We fought about something external but really it was about something internal."

"You've gone through a lot the last time you were here. The feelings can be triggered by repercussions of the past. In the future, I want you to go with your feelings. Don't lock them away in a box in your brain. You're an amazing young man Jacob who has just gone through things that you shouldn't have. Listen to what your heart tells you."

I nodded my head and stood up off the couch. The hour had gone by quickly but somehow I felt that Dr. Hendrix gave me useful advice. Maybe I am feeling the way I feel because of unfinished business in the past. Maybe I do need to listen to my heart more and stop locking away my feelings.

"You can come here anytime Jacob," Dr. Hendrix said as she walked me to the door. "Thanks," I said to her before I walked through the doorway and out of her office into the cold fall air.

**Do you think you've figured out the missing piece to the jigsaw puzzle? Clue: some people like living in the past. Tell me your guess and review!**


	22. Final Countdown

**This chapter definitely throws a monkey wrench into this machine. Let me know what you think and review!**

**Disclaimer: I am not writing this as my own. All characters and ideas belong to Laurie faria Stolarz**

Stacey POV

"Okay, I'll see you later," I said into the phone to Jacob.

"Alright, bye," he said as he hung up.

I placed my phone back into my bag and took another sip of the refreshing tea Porsha made me. When I woke up from my nightmare, it truly felt as if someone had smashed a baseball bat against my skull. I immediately got out of bed and headed towards the showers knowing they would give me temporarily relief.

Afterwards, I retrieved the pitcher of herbal tea Porsha made out of Janie's compact fridge. I gulped down a whole coffee cup's worth of the liquid hoping relief would come soon. Then I remembered the day and the thought made my head ache worse.

Now as I'm walking to class my head still hurts but the tea did bring quite a lot of relief. Jacob didn't seem to freak out when I told him about him being in my nightmares. What he said made sense. He would be there tonight and would have a part in things. Maybe that is why he is in my nightmares.

Since I woke up before my alarm rang, I had more time than usual to get ready. I didn't want to wait around so I figured I would just head to class. The soles of my feet ached as I pressed each foot into the hard cement of the sidewalk. Dancing that long in the wrong foot attire has its consequences.

The hurried wind blew dead leaves across my path as I walked towards the history building. Other students dazed from the early morning hour strolled lifelessly up and down the sidewalk.

As I approached the history building, only one chipper student stood amongst the dead crowd.

"Hey Stacey," Tim said as he made his way towards me.

"Morning Tim," I said as I took another sip of the tea.

"What are you drinking?" he asked as he took the container from me and took a sip.

"It's very….herbally," he said as he puckered his lips .

"That's because it's tea with bay leaves," I said taking the container back.

"Why are you drinking that nasty stuff," he questioned.

"It helps me with my headaches," I said walking closer to the building.

Tim followed and said grimly, "Today's Thursday."

"Yeah I know," I said stopping and facing towards him, "Have you got anything on Chelsea yet?"

"As a matter of fact, I do. I ate lunch with her yesterday, just me and her and she told me something. It's kind of good news but also kind of bad news too."

"What is it?" I asked taking a step closer to him.

This conservation didn't need to be heard by semi-stoned or sleeping people.

"Today's Thursday right," he asked.

"Yeah, we already established that," I said confused.

Tim took in a breath and let out a sigh.

"Today is Chelsea's birthday."

"Oh my God," I said taking a step back, "She never mentioned that her birthday was coming up."

"That's not the news," he said as he took one of my hands and pulled me closer to him, "Someone is going to surprise her."

"Surprise her?" I asked.

"Yeah," he said leaning in towards me, "Her ex-boyfriend."

"Well, at least we know who it's going to be," I said hesitantly.

"That's still not the crazy part," Tim said.

"How long did this lunch last?" I said.

"Well I had to lay down my play on her and sometimes that takes some…"

"Tim!" I said giving him a push on the chest, "Just tell me!"

"Okay, here's the story. She was dating this guy named Paul back in Rhode Island. They dated throughout high school and broke up before she came here."

"Did she say why they broke up?" I asked interrupting him.

"Yeah, she said after his dad died he became kind of aggressive. Held things in and took them out on her."

"So he abused her," I asked.

"She says he never hit her but verbal abuse is almost as bad as physical. Anyways, yesterday morning she found another note. It was signed by Paul."

"Did she say what the note said?"

"That he still loves her and wants to make her birthday a night that no one would ever forget."

"By killing her, that's romantic. I can't believe she didn't call me about getting another note. The other day she was freaked out when she found one."

"That's the thing," Tim said looking into my eyes, "She's happy they're from him because she feels bad that she left him. Plus she stills loves him."

"This is insane," I said looking at the clock on my phone, "She's happy and willing to meet up with her crazy ex because she feels bad. I guess guilt knocked the fright out of her."

"Yeah I know. A crazy ex boyfriend out to kill his ex for leaving him. From what she told me, he sounded like a whacko before but this is crazy."

"I can't believe she told you and not me, no offense," I added quickly after seeing Tim's expression.

"Oh I almost forgot, here," he said as he dug into his pocket and pulled out a ring.

A small emerald stone sat in the middle of the silver ring.

"It's Chelsea's," he said as he placed the ring into the palm of my hand.

"How did you get this," I said holding the ring up to my eye level.

"She took it off when she went to the bathroom the other day at lunch. Probably so it wouldn't fall down the drain when she washed her hands. So I jumped at the opportunity and took it. She thinks she lost it. But soon it will magically appear in the lost and found."

"It's perfect," I said putting the ring into the small pocket inside of my bag, "A lot of her energy is on the ring. I can feel it. It'll work for the spell."

"Well I think I did my job pretty damn well," Tim said proudly.

"Yeah you did," I said as I started leading the way towards the doors.

"I think I deserve something," he said with a smirk as he moved in front of me, stopping me from walking forward.

I caught his drift. He wanted a victory kiss. Tim towered over me so I stood on my toes and wrapped one hand around his neck and let the other hang on my side holding the container of tea.

"Tim," I whispered my face inches from his, "You do deserve something."

He smiled and closed his eyes and began moving towards me when I grabbed one of his hands from around my waist with my free hand and shook it.

"Thanks Tim!" I said way too exuberantly.

We both laughed and made our way up the stairs and into the front doors of the building.

"You almost had me," I joked as we approached the classroom.

"Nah, your mouth would have tasted like bay leaves," he said as he walked to his desk.

"Yeah right," I said while taking my seat.

"I know," he said across the room in his desk.

I turned to look at him and he smiled and winked at me. I rolled my eyes and took my binder out of my bag. Then a girl who appeared happy and joyous walked into the room. Chelsea. Wow. Her demeanor had definitely changed. It seemed like she had literally bounced into her seat she was so perky.

"Good morning Stacey," she said as she turned to me.

I acted like I knew nothing about the new situation and said, "Hi. You seem….peppy."

"I know. I just got some good and relieving news."

Relieving? That's a different spin on it.

"What is it?" I asked like I didn't know.

"I totally misread the situation. The roses and the notes were sent by my boyfriend."

Boyfriend? So they were already back together.

"Boyfriend? I didn't think you had a boyfriend."

"Oh well, he's my ex but we decided we should get back together. We love each other so much and I've missed him so much. He sent the roses for my birthday!"

"Your birthday is today? Well happy birthday."

This was getting stranger by the second.

"Thanks, I probably forgot to tell you. Anyways, the whole meeting thing on Crest Hill is just a small romantic get together for my birthday. My birthday actually starts at 9:39 so that's when we're getting together. He thought the roses and the notes were the romantic thing to do. Now that I know who's sending me the notes, it's probably the most romantic things anyone has ever done for me."

I had to act the entire time. I didn't want her to find out we had been watching over her and spying on her this whole time. But she was walking into a death trap. I had to try to get her to see the reality of the situation while still acting like I hardly knew anything.

"Chelsea," I said leaning towards her, "Are you sure about this?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean a couple of days ago you were terrified for your life. Now you forgive and forget and meet up with this guy?"

"I know. But it's my fault I misread this whole thing. Not yours. I'm sorry if I've been worrying you this whole time. I guess I was just paranoid. You know, new place new people. Don't worry Paul loves me. I'm in no danger."

That was where the conversation ended. Mr. Wilkerson came into the doorway wearing his lecture clothes, a plaid button up shirt and penny loafers. There was no way I would be able to talk her out of this. In her eyes, Paul was harmless. The love she had for him was blinding her. I wonder what she's going to think when he bashes a baseball bat into her skull.

But then an interesting thought occurred to me. If Paul is the stalker, then why is he stalking us. We have no connection with him. They're from Rhode Island, a whole state away. Even though some pieces were filled in, some of them still didn't match up.

Class soon ended and Chelsea bounced out of her seat and into the hallway. I met Tim out in the hallway before I headed to my next class.

"I know I joke around a lot," he said with a rare serious expression on his face, "but be careful tonight."

"I will," I said knowing this was the last time I would see Tim before everything went down.

I reached up and gave him a hug while I whispered a note of thanks into his ear once more. He smiled and continued his way to his next class.

I was truly thankful that I was skipping my afternoon classes. I don't think I could have physically done it.

Soon I found myself walking along the familiar crowded sidewalk towards my dorm. I quickly walked down the hallway that housed our room. As I approached our door, a familiar voice came behind me.

"Hey Stacey!"

Emily. I turned around and quickly plastered a fake smile upon my face.

"Hi. Now's not a good time. I'm waiting on Jacob and I…"

"Oh don't worry!" she said interrupting me, "I'll leave you alone. Have a good night!"

She opened her door and went into her room.

"Thank God," I quietly uttered to myself.

I unlocked the door and walked into my room. I shuffled through my drawers to find the ingredients I needed for the spell. I found the sea salt and the orris root powder in the bottom drawer next to Jacob's journal. I ran my finger over the smooth top of the journal. The past is in the past. I've got to let it go sometime.

I closed the drawer and placed the ingredients on the floor. I then placed a bowl alongside the ingredients. I found the candle Jacob and I had used before, and placed it on the floor as well. Paul's a messed up puppy for doing this to Chelsea. I just don't get why he had to stalk us to do it.

Soon Jacob knocked on my door and I got up off my bed to let him in.

"Wow you look nice," I said noticing the black button down shirt and jeans.

"Thanks. I felt like dressing up today I guess."

He bent down and gave me a kiss on the lips after he closed the door behind us. I remembered then that Jacob didn't know the new information we had about Chelsea. I took his hand and led him towards the pile of ingredients I had strewn across the floor.

"You're going to want to sit for this," I said pulling him to the floor.

"How could this day possibly get more stressful?" he said as he crossed his legs Indian style and leaned against Amber's bed.

"Well my dear it did," I said as I did the same with my legs.

"Great," he said leaning his head against the bed, "Do tell."

"Okay, the roses and cards were sent from Paul, Chelsea's ex-boyfriend from Rhode Island."

"What?" he said quickly lifting his head off the bed.

"Yeah but let me finish," I said.

He gestured with his hand to go on and I obliged, "He was a jerk boyfriend and she broke up with him. Today is her birthday and he sent the roses and cards to surprise her. He's meeting her at Crest Hill at exactly 9:39. The exact moment when she was born. She's all happy now because she felt guilty for leaving him and she thinks it's romantic that he sent her the things now."

"Wow," he said with his eyes wide, "I get the whole romantic aspect but stalking is definitely not the way to a girl's heart. I assume you got this info from Tim?"

"Yeah, she told him all of this and he told me this morning. I tried to talk her out of it but she thinks he's harmless."

"Yeah, bashing your brains out with a bat isn't harmless at all," he said rolling his eyes, "At least this whole thing is starting to make some sense."

"Yeah the whole angry boyfriend does but what about the whole stalking us thing?"

"Your right," he said as a questioning look appeared in his blue eyes, "We weren't friends with Chelsea before this. Why would he stalk us?"

"I don't know. I mean where does Trevor come into this?"

"I called him on my way here and updated him. He thinks you secretly had wet dreams about him and that you're covering it up by saying he was in your nightmares."

"Yeah I wish that was the case," I said making us both laugh.

"Well, we better get going on this spell though. Did Tim come through?"

"He did," I said as I pulled the ring out of the pocket in my bag, "Her ring."

"That works," he said as he took the ring from me and placed it in the middle of the bowl, "Okay, you ready?"

"Yep," I said as I placed the candle between us and lit it.

Jacob and I took each other's hands and closed our eyes. We both concentrated on the heat and strength of the candle. Then I opened my eyes and released one of Jacob's hands.

With my free hand I poured a hint of sea salt over the ring and chanted, "Protect this soul who this object belongs."

Then Jacob sprinkled the roots over the ring and said, "Let no fear or harm touch her body."

"Let the protection bring strength who it is for," I say.

"If not her soul will be no more," Jacob says as he releases my hand.

"Blessed be the way," I say.

"Blessed be the way," he says.

The countdown had officially begun.


	23. Coming Clean

**The fateful night is a chapter away! Sorry for the short chapter but I had to write it because of plot reasons. Hope you enjoy! Review!**

**Disclaimer: I am not writing this as my own. All characters and ideas belong to Laurie faria Stolarz**

Jacob POV

The protection spell was done. The forces of energy and nature had been cast upon Chelsea. Stacey and I had done everything we could to protect her with magic. Now luck was the only thing that could save her. I just hope Stacey and I had enough luck between us to save her. I just don't get why she would voluntarily meet up with this guy after she was so freaked out by him. Her new found behavior explains why she appeared so joyous earlier today.

After we completed the spell, Stacey and I discussed our roles for tonight. We would leave the dorm around 9:00 and make our way towards Crest Hill. Once we arrive, we will wait in the shadows of the woods for our suspect and victim to appear. Then after that, it was just luck. Paul would either strike at exactly 9:39 or after. We just have to make sure we stop him before he strikes. Hopefully, Stacey will pull Chelsea away to safety and call the police while I handle Paul. Will this plan proceed perfectly and without a hitch? Highly unlikely, but we have to try. It's all we have.

If we call the police and tell them that we think this girl is going to be murdered, they will definitely ask how we retrieved the information. What would we tell them? That Stacey had a premonition about her death? All that would get us is a 72 hour lockdown in a psyche ward.

Stacey made sure that Amber and Janie were no where near the premises. Paul threatened them before and could possibly target them now. I asked PJ to take them off campus to a movie and dinner for the night. He agreed because to other people he would look like a pimp with two attractive girls on his arms. We promised we would call them after the ordeal is over.

But right now it's 8:00, and Stacey and I sit in her dorm room waiting for the time to come. Around 5:00 we walked to the cafeteria and ate a quick dinner before coming back to the dorm. We've talked about every detail that we both need to know for tonight, but I feel as though I have to talk to her about something else.

I originally didn't want to tell her I went to Dr. Hendrix. I figured she would be worried about me and think that I was going crazy again. But after talking with the doctor, I realized that I have to tell her. Secrets and lies caused a major fight between us the other day. I don't want to keep anything from her anymore. So as I lay on the bed with Stacey laying beside me, I speak up.

"Stacey, I need to talk to you about something," I say sitting up and pulling her up along with me.

"What?" she asks while she rests against the wall for support.

"I don't want you to freak out, and I know this is probably not the best time to tell you this."

"What's wrong?" she asks with a worried expression.

I inhaled and said, "I went to the doctor during lunch. That's where I was before I came here and that's the reason I'm dressed up."

"Do you not feel well or something," she asks resting her hand against my cheek feeling for a temperature.

"No…not that kind of doctor," I say as I remove her hand from my cheek and place it in mine.

"You mean like a psychologist," she said looking down at our entwined hands.

"Yeah a psychologist," I said.

"I thought you were okay. I thought that's the reason why you came to Beacon because you were finally okay."

"I wanted to be with you," I said before I held our hands to my mouth and kissed hers.

"If you still felt like you needed help, why didn't you just talk to me?" she said.

The truth was I wanted to tell her everything but I didn't because she didn't deserve to have that information forced upon her.

"Well, I didn't want to bother you with it. It's a burden that shouldn't be placed on you," I whispered.

Suddenly she let go of my hands and wrapped her arms around me and held me in a tight embrace.

"I don't ever want you to feel that you can't tell me something," she whispered in my ear, "No matter the circumstances."

As we held each other, I truly felt that she loved me and would have given anything to verbally say it to her. She didn't have to stay and listen to a crazy whackjob like myself. She traveled all the way to Colorado and continued her relationship with me because she loves me. And she lays here now in my arms for the same reason.

We stayed in our embrace until the clock on Amber's dresser shone the numbers 9:00 in bright crimson red.

"It's time to go," she said breaking our embrace and getting off the bed. We both put our shoes on and wrapped ourselves tightly in warm jackets. A sense of fear and nervousness erupted through my body as I turned the knob on the door and opened it.

I quickly turned around to face Stacey and said, "No matter what happens, we're in this together."

"No matter what," she repeated as she held my hand and followed me out the door and out into the frosty fall night.

**The next chapter will reveal Chelsea's fate, I promise.**


	24. Realization

**The chapter you've all been waiting for is finally here! Enjoy and Review!**

**Disclaimer: I am not writing this as my own. All characters and ideas belong to Laurie faria Stolarz**

Stacey POV

The chilling autumn wind blows rapidly through the trees making the dead leaves fall to the ground. The dark night sky unmasks twinkling stars that provide a small amount of light. The cold dirt of the ground presses against the back of my legs as I sit with Jacob waiting for Chelsea and Paul to appear.

We've been sitting in the shadows of the woods along the bottom of Crest Hill for almost twenty minutes now. My hands tremble and shake as the wind catches my long hair and sends it flying around my face. I cup my hands around my mouth and exhale deeply attempting to warm my hands. Jacob notices my discomfort and moves closer to me wrapping his arms around me and letting me fall against his front. I can feel the heat radiating off his body as I take in his usual lemongrass scent. I remove my hands from my face and place them into my pockets. As my left hand enters the pocket, it rubs against my crystal cluster rock. I usually don't tote it around but for tonight I made an exception.

I can feel my nerves on edge as I encompass the rock with my hand. I'm nervous for Chelsea but I'm also nervous for another reason that I shouldn't even still be thinking. Deep down I feel that this situation isn't right. Usually everything in my nightmares plays a part but this time not all of the roles have been assigned.

All of a sudden Jacob's attention reverts to the top of the hill.

"There they are," he whispers into my ear.

I glance up at the top of the hill and find Chelsea holding hands with a tall blonde boy who was carrying a blanket in his free hand. I look around where I am sitting making sure there are not any objects that I could step on that would make a distracting sound. There are none so I unwrap Jacob's arms around me and stand up. He does the same and stands behind me as we watch the destructive couple walk down the hill. In Chelsea's free hand there is a woven basket probably full of food for their so called romantic birthday dinner.

Then I notice something. Paul doesn't seem to be holding anything that could be a weapon. From my nightmares, I assume the weapon of choice will be a bat but right now it's missing from the picture.

I pull Jacob closer to me and whisper to him, "Where do you think the bat is."

He lowers his head next to mine and whispers back, "I noticed that too. He probably hid it somewhere. I mean who takes a bat to a moonlight dinner?"

Chelsea and Paul reach the bottom of the hill and Jacob and I move closer to the edge of the woods to get a better view. Paul unfolds the blanket and sprawls it out onto the ground. He then sits on the blanket while Chelsea opens the basket and pulls out two containers, two spoons, and two thermoses. The scene is eerily normal and I ask Jacob what the time is.

He turns around to look at his phone and then says, "9:30."

"Something's wrong," I say as he moves back behind me, "Where's the light, the breathing….."

"Wait," Jacob says covering my mouth.

I look back out into the scene. Paul stands up and tells Chelsea that he will be right back and that he forgot something. He walks towards the woods where Jacob and I stand. We both as one move back deeper into the woods.

"I think he's going to get the bat," I say once Jacob removes his hand.

"Okay, remember the plan," he says moving in front of me, "Get Chelsea while I handle Paul."

"Okay," I say with my voice cracking.

"Keep an eye on Chelsea and I'll go over there and watch out for Paul."

I nod my head and move closer to the edge while Jacob moves deeper waiting for Paul. Chelsea opens the large container and places the spoons of the edge of it. She then opens the small container and unveils two slices of cake. She does this while silently dancing to a song in her hand. She's smiling and acting like she's on top of the world.

Poor girl. In less than nine minutes, she's going to find out her boyfriend's true intentions.

After a couple of minutes, I hear Jacob say, "He's coming back."

He then moves closer to me as we both watch Paul. Over his shoulder, he carries a long green bag meant for storing foldable chairs. Great way to disguise a baseball bat. My heart starts beats rapidly as he moves closer to Chelsea.

"Wait for it," Jacob says behind me.

My hands start to tremble again not from the cold but from the adrenaline pumping through my body. My lips tremble also and feel like my heart will explode if I don't do something.

Paul sets the bag down and looks at his watch and says to Chelsea, "Happy birthday baby."

He then bends down and starts unzipping the bag.

"Jacob!" I say as a loud whisper.

Paul was halfway done unzipping the bag when Jacob yelled, "Now!"

We both frantically run out of the woods and towards the couple.

"Stacey!" Chelsea yells as soon as her eyes see me running towards her out of the woods.

Paul turns to face us and says, "What the fuck?"

I nearly trip over my own two feet before I reach Chelsea and say, "Come with me! Hurry!"

She just sits there on the blanket and stares at me like I'm insane.

"Chelsea come on!" I say grabbing her by the arm and attempting to pull her up.

"What the hell are you doing!" I hear to my right.

I look over to find Jacob holding Paul in a headlock. Jacob clearly holds the advantage being that Jacob looks about forty pounds heavier than the small skinny blonde boy he locks in his arms.

"Get your hands off me!" Paul yells into the ground.

"Get off him!" Chelsea yells to Jacob as she stands up in front of me.

She starts to run over to the fighting boys but I stop her and say, "He was going to kill you!"

"Are you crazy!" she yells trying to break my hold.

"Kill her?!" Paul yells as he becomes still.

"Yeah, kill her," Jacob says to him, "You were going to kill her with a bat."

"What are you talking about!" Chelsea yells.

"You've been telling me that you were scared because some freak was sending you flowers and cards, that was Paul," I tell her.

"I know it was Paul I told you that! I told you it was all a misunderstanding! He did this for my birthday!"

"Yeah it did this for your birthday. He brought you at the bottom of a hill in the middle of a freezing night for your birthday?"

"Yeah," Chelsea yells back at me.

"Open the bag then," I challenge her.

"Okay?" she says as she walks over to the long bag.

"It's a chair bag," Paul yells, "I wasn't going to make her sit on the cold ground."

I look at Jacob and see confusion in his eyes. We then both look at Chelsea opening the bag.

When the bag is open she laughs and says, "Oh my God! He was going to kill me with a chair!"

"What?" I say realizing the truth.

"I told you!" Paul yells, "There is no bat!"

Chelsea closes the bag and stands up and says, "If you don't release him I'm going to call the police and tell them we were assaulted by you two."

Jacob hesitates and then releases Paul knowing there is no evidence he's a killer.

"I thought you were my friend Stacey but I guess I was wrong. Now stay the hell away from me."

It felt like a giant lump had formed in my throat. Paul wasn't a killer and Chelsea wasn't the woman in my nightmares. Someone was still out there waiting to be killed.

Jacob had stood by my side and was practically the only thing holding me up. I felt bile rising in my throat as Jacob led me away from the couple.

On the way back to the dorm, Jacob called PJ and told them what happened while I walked in a daze by his side. All the work we had done was for nothing. Everything was for nothing.

Then as we approached my dorm building, another realization hit me. This killer whoever they are is still out there preying on the victim, but they are also still out there preying on us. They've been following Jacob and me and had threatened to kill Amber and Janie. We had been blindsided by a girl's dramatic relationship with her high school boyfriend. This thought caused tears to form in my eyes. I felt as if a rug had been ripped out from underneath me. Devastation and loss roamed through my body.

Jacob and I said nothing as we climbed the stairs to my room. Once we reached the room, Jacob sat on my bed and held his head in his hands while I stood mindlessly by the door.

After moments of silence, Jacob said, "It's not your fault."

It's not my fault. Whose fault is it then? I'm the one with the premonitions and nightmares. I obviously interpreted it wrong. I knew things weren't right with Chelsea but I keep going along with it because if I didn't and something happened to her I would feel guilty. So it has to be my fault.

"It is my fault Jacob. Someone out there is going to die because I didn't listen. We could have died. Amber and Janie could have died."

"Don't do that Stacey," he said as he rose from the bed, "You can't blame yourself."

"Then who am I supposed to blame?" I said with an angry undertone.

There was no one else. I couldn't blame him, or Tim, or Amber or anyone else in the world.

"You did what you thought was right at the time."

"I didn't think it was all right," I said as I walked towards him, "I've had this feeling ever since we placed the nightmares on Chelsea that things weren't right. Her situation and my nightmare didn't match up and I did nothing about it."

"Stacey you're human. It's alright to be wrong sometimes," he said placing his hands on my shoulders.

I can't allow myself to be wrong sometimes. People's lives are on the line. And Jacob.

"I was wrong about you before, and look what happened!"

"Stacey you can't do this to yourself! It's going to kill you!" he said cupping his hands around my face.

The problem is I can't not do that to myself. And every time I think about it, I just cry. Just like now.

"Plus, I'm alright, I'm here," he says taking my hand in his and placing it over his heart.

"Yeah but not like you used to be," I say taking my hand away.

I want the old Jacob back, my Jacob. I never told him before because I didn't want him to think I was selfish. I love the Jacob that stands in front of me now but I love the old one more. I thought this statement would make him angry and hurt but when I looked into his eyes I found longing.

"I want to be that Jacob too. Believe me I tried. But this is who I am now."

I know he wanted to go back to how things were even if he doesn't remember everything. But he's right. He is who he is now. He can't change that.

"I know," I said wrapping my arms around him, "I just hate this. There's no way I can save anyone now. It's too late."

He pulled me away and looked into my eyes and said, "It's not. The day has to be Saturday. That gives us 48 hours. We can do this. You can do this."

I want to believe him but I can't. There's so much we have to figure out. We're basically starting off on a clean slate. There is not enough time and I'm scared.

Jacob saw my fear and said, "I promise you can do this."

"How do you know?" I asked while another tear rolled down my cheek.

"Because I just do," he said wiping the tear away, "You need rest."

"I don't want to, it wastes time," I said.

"Stacey you have to rest or you won't be any good," he said leading me towards the bed.

"I don't want you to leave me," I said stopping him.

He smiled and took off his jacket. He then began unbuttoning the buttons on my coat.

After he took my jacket off, he grabbed hold of my hand and led me to the bed. I laid down and he laid beside me. I rested my head on his shoulder and tried to expel the thoughts out of my head.

"I'll leave once you fall asleep and Amber and Janie are here," he said stroking my hair.

I didn't have enough energy to speak so I just nodded my head. The last thing I remember before I fell asleep was the smell of the lemongrass scent on his neck.

**Did you see that one coming? Tell me what you think and review!**


	25. Sleeping Beauty

**This is a fairly short chapter but sweet none the less. Enjoy and Review!**

**Disclaimer: I am not writing this as my own. All characters and ideas belong to Laurie faria Stolarz**

Jacob POV

The soft sound of Stacey's deep breathing filled the room as I waited for Amber and Janie to return. She had fell asleep with a worried look on her face and that look still remained.

Tonight's events shocked Stacey, but something deep down inside told me tonight would not go as planned. I repressed that feeling and put my game face on, so you could say. Stacey and I had gone into those woods thinking we were about to save a girl's life. What we got out of it was two people thinking we were both crazy lunatics.

We now stand at square one and have less than forty eight hours to figure out this mess. I have confidence in Stacey and I believe she does have the tools and knowledge to solve this. But I also think that Stacey doesn't have the confidence in herself. It always hurts to see the people you care about most hurting and disbelieving in themselves. It hurts even more to see them hurting and not being able to project how you feel about them.

I lay here now with a beautiful sleeping girl in my arms, who unfortunately has the weight of the world on her shoulders. Stacey shifts her weight and crosses her right leg over both of mine as she settles back into oblivion. I turn my head and look out of the window and admire the night sky. A full moon doesn't hang heavy in the sky like Stacey's premonitions predict.

As I stare out into the dark blank sky, my eyes heavy with exhaustion slowly close. I almost slip into a deep sleep but the sound of the door opening wakes me. I raise my head to see Amber and Janie quietly enter the room. Very carefully I move Stacey off of me and pull the blanket over her.

"How's she doing?" Amber whispers as she quietly removes her jackets and shoes. I look down at Stacey and notice she still has the worried expression on her face.

"She's scared," I say looking back at Amber, "scared she's going to be too late."

"We'll help any way we can," Janie said.

I smiled and made my way towards the door. It always amazes me how committed and dedicated our friends are. They are always willing to throw themselves in deadly situations, even though they're probably more scared than we are.

My hand grasped the doorknob and was turning it when a hand came to rest on my shoulder.

"It's almost midnight and you look exhausted," Janie said as I turned to face her, "just stay here."

Janie couldn't possibly know how much I just wanted to lay next to Stacey and protect and comfort her and stay by her side.

"I wish I could, but I can't," I said turning back towards the door.

"Jacob come on," Amber said making me turn to face her, "You two aren't going to classes tomorrow. Plus, when Stacey wakes up she's going to be freaking out and running around like a bat out of hell. Kathy rarely checks rooms anymore. It'll be fine, we got your back."

I truly was exhausted and I knew Amber was right. As soon as Stacey woke up she would be running around trying to fix things. I knew the consequences we all would face if Kathy caught me in their room. But I started to doubt if I had enough energy to walk back to my dorm.

I sighed and looked over at Stacey who had just rolled over facing us and the rest of the room. Looking at her laying in her bed and seeing her face plastered with worry made my mind up.

"Okay," I whispered, "I'll stay."

I slowly pulled the blanket away from Stacey and carefully rested my body onto the bed next to her.

"Jacob," Janie said as she to laid down in her bed, "You're a good guy."

"Yeah," Amber said turning in her bed, "She's lucky."

"Thanks," I said settling down into the bed.

I wrapped my arm around Stacey and as soon as I touched her she placed her hand on my chest. Her hand felt comforting and warm and I held her tighter. And at the exact moment when I was closing my eyes, I could have sworn I saw a smile flash across Stacey's sleeping face.


	26. In Hot Chocolate

**Enjoy and Review!**

**Disclaimer: I am not writing this as my own. All characters and ideas belong to Laurie faria Stolarz**

Stacey POV

The annoying sound of a wooden pencil tapping against an oak table echoes throughout the length of the library. The plump freckled faced red haired girl sits at the table across from me performing the aggravating act. Stressful thoughts fill my mind, and the tapping noise strengthens them.

Today is Friday. Only one more day. Jacob's confident that I will not fail. He told me last night and he told me again this morning. I have to say waking up with Jacob by my side thrilled me. I've always felt warm and protected in his arms, but even more so now. We both are not attending our classes today. We agreed that talking to Tim, Trevor, and Porsha would make better use of our limited time. So while Jacob waits for Trevor to get dismissed from school, I will talk to Tim and Porsha.

I now sit in the library with pencil girl waiting for Tim show up. I called a meeting with him to inform him about the events of last night. He was a huge part in the plan, and he deserves to know the result. I wait several more minutes in the almost empty library before Tim finally comes through the double glass doors.

He appears model-like in his dark wash jeans, white sweater, and black scarf. Even pencil girl takes notice at his appearance and stops her annoying tapping as he strolls past her table towards mine. Tim pulls out the wooden chair next to mine and greets me with a hello before sitting down.

"So, how did it go last night?" he asks removing his scarf.

Before I say anything I look across to see if pencil girl is eavesdropping. She appears to be fully encompassed by the large three inch binder that is opened in front of her.

I turn back to Tim and whisper, "I'll just say it was shocking none the least."

His brow furrowed as I finished my sentence, "What do you mean?" he asked.

"It wasn't Chelsea," I said blatantly.

I then continued on telling him the story of last night. Waiting out in the woods, Jacob fighting Paul, and Chelsea telling me to stay away from her.

"How could it have not been her," he said looking confused, "Everything pointed to her."

"Almost everything," I said looking down at the table.

"Almost everything?" he questioned.

I turned in my chair so that I was facing Tim, "There were some things that weren't matching up. A small part of me questioned why things weren't fully matching up. But the bigger part kept saying that Chelsea's life was on the line, and I didn't have to time to question things."

His eyes stared right at me but he wasn't looking at me. He was thinking. Wondering how it couldn't be.

"Well," he said when his mind stopped wondering, "This completely sucks ass."

"Yeah it does," I said turning back to face forward in my chair.

After a few moments of silence Tim asked the number one question, "What are you going to do?"

It took me a minute to answer his question. What was I going to do? I had exactly one day to figure this out. My nightmares are as detailed as they're probably going to get. I have no clue as to who needs my help or who the stalker is. I should have the answers to all my questions, but I haven't been able to even check off any question on my long list.

"Honestly," I said turning back to Tim, "I have no idea what the hell I'm going to do."

"Well," he said putting his hand over mine, "I know what I'm going to do."

"And what is that," I said with a nervous tone.

He smiled sensing my tone and then said something completely off the wall, "I'm not hanging around Chelsea anymore. She didn't have to be a bitch to you."

"I can understand how I freaked her out," I said slipping my hand out from underneath his.

He didn't seem to notice.

Instead he said, "Yeah but she still didn't have to be rude. She could have a heard you out."

"Tim you can still hang with her if you want to, I don't care. I didn't tell her about you working with me."

He glanced at me and then laughed.

"What?" I said finding myself laughing also.

"I only put up with her whining and complaining for your sake. I told you I would help you if you needed it, and you did. So I helped you. Even if her voice made my ears want to bleed."

I laughed even harder. Pencil girl even turned around and told us to be quiet. Ironic since her tapping drove me crazy and I would gladly tell her where she could put that pencil.

"Well I got to go," Tim said looking at his phone, "My next class is in ten."

"Okay," I said.

He leaned and wrapped his arms around me and held me in a tight embrace. I took advantage of our close moment and said "thank you" into his ear.

He unwrapped his arms and flashed his movie star smile at me and said, "Anytime."

He then got up and got his books together. I said goodbye and was expecting to hear it back but he did something unexpected. He bent down and kissed me on the cheek before saying goodbye. The kiss shouldn't bother me. When PJ gets excited he kisses me on the cheek and I think nothing of it. But as I sit in my chair and watch Tim walk out of the door, I can still feel the feeling on my cheek where his soft lips laid a kiss.

A girl with purple hair rides on the back of a motorcycle grasping the boy driving tightly around the waist. The couple zoom past me as I walk on the sidewalk towards Porsha's house. Amber called me to check in after I left the library, and I think she would appreciate the violet color better than I do.

When I woke up this morning her and Janie were already gone. I was disappointed because I wanted to tell them about last night but I was soon informed that they already knew. Jacob had told them last night when they got home. They told me this in a letter they left on my side table along with a condum that had a sticky note stuck to it reminding me to "be safe, and push it real good".

After getting off the phone with Amber, I text Porsha to see if she would be home within the next hour. She said she would since her school gets out early on Fridays, and that she would meet me at her house in about forty five minutes.

So in the mean time, I purchased a coffee and chocolate croissant from the cafeteria and now I find myself on the sidewalk leading to Porsha's house. I make my way up the delicate white stairs towards the grand front door. I ring the doorbell and wait patiently for someone to answer.

A few moments later, the door opens to reveal Porsha on the other side.

"Hey Stacey," she says with a smile, "Come in."

She leads me into the living room and we sit next to each other on the plush white sofa. Her house may be grand and colonial but the inside is warm and cozy and reminds me more of a cottage than a colonial house.

"Do you want some tea," she asks standing up.

"I don't have a headache," I say realizing now that every other time I have visited I've had one of my treacherous headaches.

"Well how about some hot chocolate?" she asks politely, "It's the perfect weather for a cup."

"Sure," I say standing up and following her into the kitchen.

We mix up some cocoa powder and boil some water. As we were waiting for the water to boil, I told her about last night and how I was wrong about Chelsea.

Soon we find ourselves pouring warm tasty liquid into two large mugs and settling down at the small kitchen table.

"I'm sorry I didn't call you last night," I say after we both have taken sips from our mugs, "It was late when we got back and my brain was fried."

"Don't worry about it," she says putting her mug down.

"I don't even know what to do," I say.

"You just have to figure out a thousand piece puzzle with only ten pieces," she said.

"It just doesn't make sense. It's never been this hard before."

"We're obviously missing something," she says crossing her arms, "Tell me the details again."

I tell her the events of my nightmare and every detail I can remember. The light, Trevor, the woman, and the fact that I seem to get bashed in the head with something. After I'm finished, Porsha turns her head and looks out of the window and stares out towards the lush forest. I do the same and wait for her to reply.

Her attention then comes back into the kitchen, "Well, I got nothing. None of it goes together."

I lean back into my chair, "I know."

"Maybe we're reading it wrong."

"Reading it wrong?" I say sitting up.

"Yeah, I mean we read my nightmare wrong. Some aspects seemed like they didn't match up but in the end it turned out we read them wrong. They weren't what they originally appeared to be."

"True but the day of reckoning I guess you could call it is tomorrow. I don't have time to look into things."

We did kind of "read" Porsha's nightmare wrong. At least then we had more to go on. Now, it seems like my nightmares are made up of random things thrown together. I don't have time to sit and think about every detail.

"You're going to have to try Stacey, what other choice to do you have?" she pauses and then asks, "More hot chocolate?"


	27. Wannabe Chippendale

**Thanks to everyone who added my story to their favorites and added me to their favorite authors list. I appreciate it so much. This is my first fan fict so I'm grateful for all of the support. I hope you're enjoying the story and I hope you enjoy this chapter. Let me know what you think and review!**

**Disclaimer: I am not writing this as my own. All characters and ideas belong to Laurie faria Stolarz**

Jacob POV

The old weathered swing squeaks as I push my weight forward making the swing lurch back and forth in a pendulum motion. My feet are planted firmly on the wooden porch floor and remnants of the rust stick to my fingers as I grasp the rusted chains supporting the swing. I sit and wait on the porch because Trevor hasn't made it home yet.

This morning when I opened my eyes and saw Stacey sleeping peacefully in my arms, I thought I was in heaven. At that moment nothing mattered. The pressure, the nightmares, the stress…nothing. Her chest moved slowly as her breath moved in and out of her body. Her lips relaxed and from her position I knew that her mind was at rest. A nightmare was not invading her sleep and mind. I wish and hope that someday this sight will be a normal, extraordinary event in my life.

But Stacey soon woke up, and the fear returned to her face. We agreed that she would go speak to Porsha while I waited for Trevor to return home from school.

After Stacey left, I didn't even go back to my room. I can only imagine the comments PJ will make when I arrive back tonight.

But now I sit on the old creaky porch, and wait for Trevor to come around the corner. I plan to tell him about last night, about my doctors visit, and how tomorrow is the day. Also that from what clues we have, he is somehow involved. Trevor's "parents" are away at work so it didn't seem so strange sitting on their porch for almost an hour.

Boredom soon found me so I pulled out my phone and started playing a card game.

What felt like hours later, a voice from the driveway yelled, "Jacob! Hey man!"

Trevor walked up the driveway and climbed the stairs up to the porch.

I stood up from the swing and gave him a quick hug, "How's school?"

He reached for his key in his bag and said, "Boring…stupid…learning things that I will never use in life."

"That's pretty much how it goes," I said as Trevor opened the door.

"Come on, let's go inside. It's freezing out here."

Once inside Trevor went upstairs to change while I waited in the living room. As cold as it was outside, this house was filled with warm comfortable air. From the hell that Trevor came from, I'm happy to know that this family loves him like their own and gives him a good healthy environment to live in. He deserves it.

Just then Trevor came down the stairs and sat in the green puffy recliner across from me.

"So…how did it go?" he asked looking right at me.

I took a deep breath and leaned back into the recliner I sat in, "Well, it wasn't Thursday or Chelsea."

For the next fifteen or so minutes, I told Trevor the story of last night. Every detail I could muster. A confused expression stretched across his face after he heard the story. He took several seconds to process the information I told him.

He then crossed his arms and said, "So…I really could be somehow a part of this."

I could tell he was extremely confused. Hell so was I. Trevor and I were both somehow affiliated with this. I just didn't know why or how.

"Yeah, it looks that way."

"It's crazy though," he said uncrossing his arms, "tomorrow is the night of the full moon. Whatever's going down is going down tomorrow night. And it's like we have to start all over. How's Stacey doing?"

"She's pretty freaked out. She's scared we're not going to make it. Scared of the guilt. But she's stronger then she thinks. Actually she's at Porsha's right now."

Trevor shook his head up and down, "That's good. Porsha's a pretty level person."

He then looked down at his feet for several seconds and then looked back up at me.

"How are you doing?" he asked with a curious expression.

I thought about what I could say. I feel as though I'm doing better then when I first came here. I haven't had a weird feeling in a while or a nightmare. I've really only been focusing on Stacey and trying to help her.

"I'm okay. I'm doing a lot better then before."

"No more nightmares or paranoia?"

"No."

I then questioned myself whether I wanted to tell Trevor about my doctors visit. He recommended me going before when I was completely wigging out.

"I actually went to the doctor the other day."

"Really? How did it go?"

"Good, I was kind of surprised."

"That's awesome man."

After that we talked more about my visit. Talking about it with Trevor made me realize how much progress I had made. It wasn't too long ago when I couldn't walk outside without feeling like someone was following me. Now not so much.

I stayed at Trevor's until his "parents" came home from work. They offered me to stay for dinner but I politely told them no since the sun was low in the sky and soon the temperature would drop tremendously.

Soon I found myself in front of my dorm building. Tonight is a Friday so there were many students walking and running about campus without a worry in the world. Frat boys and sorority girls yell and scream blissfully as they head off to a party. Other boys and girls dressed questionably stand around and wait for friends to join them before heading off to the club. The typical college experience. Something I probably will never experience .

I didn't know if PJ would be in the room. I mean it's a Friday night and he and Amber are definitely partiers. But to my surprise I found PJ dancing around the room with a ipod in his hands and headphones in his ears.

As I closed the door, a smile came to my mouth. He didn't seem to notice my presence as he moved around the room popping and locking things that shouldn't be popped or locked. I stood by the door quietly laughing at the sight in front of me. Then PJ turned around and jumped when he saw me standing by the door laughing.

"Damn't Jacob!" he said as he ripped the headphones from his ears, "You scared the hell out of me!"

"I'm sorry," I said still laughing, "I couldn't help but watch your hysterical performance."

"Well I don't blame you," he said placing the ipod and headphones on his bed, "I am pretty good. I plan on auditioning for the Chippendales in Vegas when I'm twenty one," he said while striking a gladiator pose.

"You do that," I said while taking off my jacket.

"So…you never came home last night," he said with a smirk.

"PJ," I said with a sigh, "Stacey was devastated. I couldn't leave her alone."

"Yeah, yeah that's your story."

PJ and I talked more about last night but soon we somehow got on the subject of Chippendales again and how PJ would be a good one. I'll never be able to get that sight out of my mind. PJ dancing around like he had a stomach ache with bright green hair practically naked. The thought sent a shiver down my spine.

Luckily, PJ was actually responsible and went to the store today to buy food for our room. He was supposed to purchase chips, drinks, bread, and sandwich meat. Instead he bought about twenty lunchables. His defense was that a lunch able contains all of the items he was supposed to buy. So PJ and I sat on our beds and ate crackers with ham and cheese and drank a caprisun. I kind of felt like I was five.

Soon we both headed out to the common room to watch a little television. As soon as I sat down on the comfy sofa, my cell phone rang. It was Stacey. I excused myself from the room and headed back to my room. I really wasn't in the mood to watch tv all night, I was kind of exhausted.

Once I was in the room, Stacey informed me that she was back in her room with Amber and Janie. She also told me how her visit with Porsha went. I found myself agreeing with what Porsha had told Stacey. Obviously, we had read the dream wrong. Something's missing. We just have a really sucky time frame.

By the end of the phone call, Stacey asked how it went with Trevor. I told her that he's kind of worried. In the end, I told her to get a good night's sleep since tomorrow we both will have to be firing in all directions.

I figured since I was already in my room that I would take my own advice and just call it a night. I placed my phone on my table and laid down in my bed. The sheets felt cold against my skin and this caused me to bring the blanket closer to my face while I drifted off to sleep.

The loud sound of a door closing causes me to jolt awake and sit up straight in my bed. I look around and am shocked to see that the walls are made of wood. I look to my right and find Brick fast asleep in the bed next to me.

There are two doors in the room, one that leads to the rest of the cabin and one leading to the closet. I get out of bed and the cold wood floor stings the bottom of my feet as I stand. Underneath the main door a dim light creaks out from underneath it, like someone's on the other side.

Then a tapping noise comes from the closet door. It causes me to jump with surprise. I glance over at Brick and notice he's still sound asleep. I quietly walk towards the door and the tapping noise becomes louder.

As I stand right in front of the door, I press my ear against the hard wood. The noise sounds like someone is repeatedly knocking on the walls inside the closet. I press my ear harder against the wood when all of a sudden the noise stops. I place my hand on the knob and slightly crack open the door. I pear inside but all is darkness. I widen the crack and stare deeper into the closet.

Then from out of the left corner a voice says, "Shell."

My heat beats faster and I move my body further inside the closet.

Then the voice speaks again this time sounding like it's coming from the right, "I meant what I said."

I look to the right and step fully inside the closet. Then in front of me, I hear laughing and feel the air pushed behind me as the door slams shut. I start to panic because I know where this is going.

Then like clockwork, the cold dark water fills the bottom of the closet. I turn and start pounding my fist against the door trying to get Brick's attention on the other side. The water fills the closet to the halfway point and sits right at my waist.

"Brick!" I yell pounding harder, "Help me! Brick!"

Before I know it, the water is at my chin, and I know the end is near. I yell one last time but it's no use. I breathe deeply and push my way towards the ceiling. I press my face against it as the water reaches my face. I take one deep breath as the water completely fills the closet and I then float down into the darkness.

But this time is different. I feel the need to fight.

I reach for the door and soon feel the wood graze against my fingers. I start to feel dizzy and lightheaded and I'm clearly running out of air.

I feel around for the doorknob when from behind me something hard cracks against my skull. Pain envelopes me and I scream out in pain. No sound echoes out into the water, and all the air I have escapes as water fills my mouth. I only have one more chance before the end comes.

With every ounce of energy I have, I find the doorknob again and turn it. At first I don't expect it to open, but then the door quickly flies open and I'm pushed out of the closet by the rushing water. I expect to be in my room in the cabin, but after I catch my breath and shake the water off, I find myself in the woods in complete darkness. All I can see is the outline of trees and my breath as I exhale. It's freezing in the woods, even more so since I'm drenched with water. My skull feels like it's been completely cracked in half and as I pressed my hand against the wound, I can feel a sticky substance which I know is blood. I feel disoriented and lost.

Then out of no where I hear laughing. Loud laughing. It sounds like it's coming from the other side of the woods. It sounds like the same laughing I heard in the closet so I become very curious. I walk in the direction of the laughing when all of a sudden I hear footsteps behind me. I turn around but all I see is darkness and trees. I turn back around and listen for the laughing but it has stopped.

Then from behind me the footsteps start up again. They're faster and sound like they're closer. I get an eerie feeling in my stomach and my heart beats faster. I get the instinct to run. And to run fast.

I take off towards the direction I was heading before. My head is killing me and the faster I run the more pain I feel. I push my legs faster when I then run into something.

A fence. I fly into it and feel little pieces of metal enter my skin. I fall onto the ground and feel the blood from the cuts run down my arms and face. The footsteps sound like they are right behind and I look back into the night. I should be worried about the person or whatever it is running towards me, but all I can focus on is the small light that appears in the distance. I want to keep staring at it but I can't. I have to find a way around the fence.

I look up and realize that I can't jump over the fence. It's too tall. The base of the fence is covered with grass and brush. For some reason I feel the need to search through the grass. I quickly scurry through the grass with bloody hands and to my amazement find a hole. A hole that I could fit through. I carefully put my head through the hole in the barb wire fence and try to slide my way through it. My whole body is almost out and I think I'm actually going to make it.

Then I feel a hand grab at one of my feet and I try to push it away with my other foot. There's nothing for me to grab onto in front of me so I dig my hands into the cold earth and try to hang on. The hand pulls at my feet and starts dragging me through the hole. I grind my teeth together and pray that I have enough strength to hold my own against this person. But I soon found out I do not.

They pull at my legs harder and my fingers start slipping out of the dirt. Then in one jerk, my hold is gone. I feel the metal shards dig into my back as I'm pulled back through the hole . Some of the shards scrap against my previous wound and I scream out in more pain.

Then in one final jerk, I'm out of the whole. Before I can even get a glimpse of the person, they hold an object high into the air and crack it against my head.

I jolt upright in bed and breathe heavily. I feel like I just ran a marathon. My head throbs with pain. All over my body, it feels as though the metal shards from my nightmare are still digging into my skin. I get out of bed and take my shirt off trying to stop the pain. I look into the mirror hanging on the wall and find that there are no wounds on my body.

Then from behind me I hear, "Dude…are you trying to still my Chippendale dream?"

I turn around to find PJ standing next to his bed with his hair array. All I can do is just look at him and sigh.


	28. The Final Piece

**Gosh it has been a long time since I've updated! I'm sorry for that. We are at the end of the story but a lot of action is ahead. I promise all questions will be answered by the end and if anyone has any questions now I will gladly answer them. Don't be shy! Enjoy and Review!**

**Disclaimer: I am not writing this as my own. All characters and ideas belong to Laurie faria Stolarz**

Stacey POV

The brilliant full moon shines down upon the forest as I make my way through the prickly brush. The brush is so thick I can't even run or jog through it. I have no idea what direction I am walking in. I do not see or hear anything. I am completely alone in the mass darkness of the forest.

After minutes of walking through the thickness of the woods, I finally come upon something that may hinder my path. A massive rotten tree lays horizontally in front of me. I look to my left and right but can not seem to find the ends of the thing. The only way to get around it is to climb over it. I am definitely not Ms. Nature girl so this is a task I am not going to enjoy. Especially since the trunk of the tree rises about five feet off of the forest floor.

I take my warm jacket off and throw it over the tree to the other side. Immediately I feel the cold blistering air hit my bare skin. I take deep breaths to try to warm myself up. I won't be able to concentrate and make it over the trunk if I'm shaking and shivering like a Chihuahua.

Then I reach up and get a firm grip on the log. After another deep breath, I raise my foot and try to find a crevice in the truck to put my foot. I finally find one and realize the moment of truth has come. I check my grip on the tree and then pull with my arms and push with my foot as I try to make it over the tree. I'm surprised to find myself practically on top of the tree after only one try. I re-grip the trunk and swing my legs on top of the tree. Now the only problem is to get down safely. Unfortunately that doesn't happen.

When I was trying to stand up so I could jump down, my foot slipped and I feel face forward onto the ground five feet below. I laid on the ground and took in deep breaths since I crushed my chest into the hard frozen ground. After a few moments, I rose my head and noticed something strange.

About twelve feet away there seemed to be the bottom of a wooden fence. The kind of wooden fence that families living in suburbs would have to keep their privacy. Definitely not something that belongs randomly in the woods.

I pushed myself off of the floor and wiped the dirt off of my body. I bent down and brushed the dirt from my jacket and then put it on. I then began walking towards the area I saw the strange fence. I got down on my knees and felt for the wooden touch of the fence. I soon found it and glided my hands up the vines and brush that covered it. To my surprise, at one moment my hand went through the vines and brush. This led me to believe that I had found a hole in the hidden fence. I began tearing and pulling away the greenery that covered the wooden wall. As I was pulling away the last couple remnants of green, a scream erupted through the woods. The scream shocked me because it was not the same cry for help I have been used to hearing in these familiar woods. No words came with the scream, only earth shattering vocals.

I turned completely intending to run towards the screaming victim. But I soon found the wooden log prohibited me once again. The heart in my chest started beating rapidly and it soon became the only sound filling my ears. The only option was to once again climb over the log. I went about it the same way I had before except this time my hands were shaking and my head was spinning from adrenaline. Lips quivering I raised my hands and feet onto the log. I pushed up and felt my muscles tense quickly as the scream filled the woods once again. I lost my grip and felt pain spread across my jaw as I slammed my chin on the tree as I fell down towards the ground. I landed hard on my back and felt the air quickly escape my lungs. I placed my hand on my jaw and felt blood running down my chin.

After a few moments, I finally caught my breath again. I stood up and placed my limbs on the tree once again. I pushed and pulled with all my might and finally made it on top of the tree. Instead of standing up, I just slid my lower half off the tree until my feet touched the ground. As soon as my feet touched the ground, the person screamed again. I quickly ran through the thick brush towards the scream. I was wrong before. This brush isn't thick enough to stop a nerve wrecked girl from running through it.

After tripping over and getting scraped by countless sticks, I finally came to a clearing. My chest moved heavily up and down and my chin throbbed with pain as I searched for someone or something in the clearing. I listened for the sound of the scream but the only sound I could hear was the own beating of my heart.

Then out in the far distance something shone brightly as the moon cast its light upon the clearing. I moved closer and soon realized it was a fence. A barb wire fence. I don't know why but I felt drawn to the fence. Like there is a reason I'm supposed to go to the fence. I start walking to the fence never once taking my eyes off of it. As I approached the fence, a feeling of dread overpowered me. Towards the bottom of the fence there was a gaping hole with dangerous barbs sticking in all directions. Blood covered the barbs and the ground around the hole. But that wasn't the part that irritated me the most. On either side of the fence by the hole, there appeared to be claw and scrape marks along the ground. Like someone was trying to claw their way out. That someone could have been the person who screamed. They needed my help and I was too late. I again get an overpowering feeling. This time the feeling is telling me to go under the fence and on to the other side.

I get down on my knees and lay down completely on the ground my head inches away from the hole. I put my hands into the groves that the person before had left. I push my feet against the soil which pushes my body through the hole. I soon feel the small barbs scrape against my back as I make my way through. I wince at the pain but keep moving.

Finally I'm completely out of the hole and through the fence. I stand up and look around. A road stretches in front of me. I soon get the feeling that I've been here before. My heart quickens once again and I turn hoping to not find what I know is behind me. I just crawled through it. I face the fence and find that the hole is still there. It's a piece of my past. And now it's the final piece.

I wake up gasping for air and my heart practically beating through my chest. That was it, the final piece, the missing piece. The piece that can make us successful in saving the woman. My hands start to shake as I reach for my phone on my side table. I grasp the phone but it quickly falls out of my hand landing loudly upon the wooden floor. Its crash deemed loud enough to awake two sleeping girls in the room.

"Stacey are you okay?" Janie asks sitting up in her bed.

I don't say a word as I bend down on the ground and attempt to click the battery back in place on the back of the phone. I push hard and finally hear the snapping noise of the battery clicking into place.

"Stacey?" Amber asks as she gets out of bed and bends down next to me.

"I have to call Jacob," I say dialing Jacob's number.

"You're freaking out Stacey," said Amber taking the phone away from me, "Tell us what's wrong so you can calm down."

"Yeah Stacey you're shaking," said Janie, "Just calm down and talk to us. Then you can call Jacob."

They're right. I'm in no shape to call Jacob without freaking him out.

"Okay," I say while they both help me off of the floor and onto my bed.

Janie and Amber sat on either side of me.

"So tell us what happened," Amber said while brushing a strand of hair behind my ear.

I took a deep breath and said, "It's at the camp."

Amber and Janie looked up at each other and then back at me.

"You mean Jacob's camp," Janie asked.

"Yeah," I said looking at her.

I then told them my entire dream and the details that led me to believe it's the same camp where Jacob and Trevor were.

"So the hole you crawled through in your dream is the same hole you and Porsha crawled through when you found Jacob and Trevor," Amber said to herself.

"Oh my God," Janie said covering her mouth, "I'm sorry Stacey."

"No it's Jacob and Trevor you should be sorry for. They've got to go back to that horrible place tonight."

"They're strong Stacey," said Amber rubbing my back, "You guys can do this."

After talking several more minutes, I was finally calmed down enough to call Jacob. Honestly I was scared of how he would react. Jacob and Trevor will have to go back to the place they were almost killed. Where all their nightmares come from. Amber and Janie left the room while I called Jacob. He answered on the second ring.

"Hey," he said with a sleepy undertone.

When I didn't answer he started to worry.

"What's wrong?" he asked fully alert now.

"I can't tell you over the phone. It's too much."

"What does that mean?"

"I need to talk to you, Trevor, and Porsha at the same time."

"Okay…I'll call them and tell them were having a meeting. Do you want me to come over?"

"No I'll meet you. Let's meet up at Porsha's. Her house is closest."

"Are you sure you don't want me to come over?"

"I'm fine. I'll meet you there. Bye."

I hung up and quickly got dressed. Outside in the lobby I met up with Amber and Janie and told them where I was going. I promised them I would tell them about the meeting later. Before I walked out of the door, I bought a water out of the machine and then made my way to Porsha's house.

"You mean the camp?" Porsha asked with serious eyes.

"Yes…the camp," I said.

Porsha, Trevor, and Jacob all sat on the couch before me while I stood in front of them telling the sequence of events from my nightmare. The whole time I was telling them about my nightmare Jacob looked like he had saw a ghost. Trevor seemed to be a little bothered about the whole camp thing but he seemed to be strong. Jacob on the other hand was not. I was hoping to talk to Jacob in private about his new found fear but Trevor beat me to it.

"Jacob what's wrong man?"

He looked at Trevor with those slate blue eyes and then to me.

"How do you know it was the camp?" he asked peering at me.

I sat in the recliner behind me and answered him, "When me and Porsha were trying to find a way into the camp that day, Porsha found a hole in the fence. The hole in my dream matched that barbed hole entirely. The road matched. Even the brush surrounding the hole."

Jacob held his head in his hands and looked down towards the floor. I knew there was something he wasn't telling us. I knew Trevor got that vibe to since he was looking at Jacob with a worried expression.

"So, what do we do from here?" Porsha asked breaking the tension.

"We have to go to the camp, that's where the woman is," I said.

"Exactly," said Trevor, "the three of us will go tonight and end this."

I looked back at Jacob and noticed he still was in the same position. I knew learning about the camp would hurt him but I didn't know it would hurt him this bad.

"You guys are going to need a car to get to it," Porsha said.

"Um…I'm pretty sure my friend Janie will let us borrow hers," I said realizing that none of us had any way of transportation.

"Okay so lets meet at the college gates around sundown," said Trevor.

"That's perfect," I agreed.

"Jacob?" Trevor asked.

"Uh…yeah sure," he said keeping his eyes towards the ground.

I really wanted to stay and talk to Jacob but I knew Amber and Janie were back at the dorm worried about the entire situation. Jacob's probably better off talking to Trevor about the idea of going back to the camp. He is the one who went through it with him. I gave Jacob a hug and a kiss and told him everything would be alright and that I would see him at the gates later on.

Amber and Janie sat on the floor while I told them the plan.

"You better keep your phone on you," Janie said after I told them.

"Of course, all three of us will have our phones on us," I said.

"So do you still want us to go with the plan of calling the police if we don't hear from you before midnight?" Amber asked.

"Yeah," I said.

"By the way, here are the keys to my car," Janie said getting up and mulling through her purse.

"Thanks Janie."

"Well, let's get something to eat," Amber said standing up, "You can't fight off the bad guys with an empty stomach."

After eating a nice meal, the three of us went back to the dorm. The day was soon ending so I needed to start getting ready. Amber and Janie helped me get at least three flashlights from the girls in the dorm. Of course Emily would have a flashlight. I mean how many times is Ms. Barbie running around at night? Still I thanked her and promised I would bring it back.

Janie helped me pick out the warmest clothes I had while Amber packed the flashlights into her spare backpack. Finally the time I had come. The sun was going down and I knew that Jacob and Trevor would be waiting at the gates. I hugged Amber and Janie and they both made sure I had my cell phone.

"Be careful Stacey, you're my girl," Amber said as I opened the door and made my way outside. The setting sun cast eerie shadows on the ground as walked toward the gates. Giddy girls walked past in their perfect outfits ready for an exciting Saturday night. I was definitely going to have an exciting Saturday night. The only question left is whether or not everyone will make it out alive.

**Review! **


	29. Here We Go Again

**I hope you guys are reading my story. I know I had a little break there but I hope some of you guys are still with me. The action has finally begun. PLEASE REVIEW! It's the only way I'll know people are reading my story!**

**Disclaimer: I am not writing this as my own. All characters and ideas belong to Laurie faria Stolarz**

Jacob POV

The moment Stacey spoke about the hole in the barb wire fence and claws marks, my mind started to race. It seemed as if our nightmares were connected. I think my reaction to her revelation caused Stacey and Trevor to have a false idea. Going back to the camp is something I never wanted to do. Why go back to the place that was hell? But that wasn't the part that bothered me so much. I was bothered by the fact that a new possibility had occurred.

I didn't speak much to Stacey before she left for a reason. I didn't want her to know and I knew if I sat down with her and the moment she smiled I would have told her. I also didn't want Porsha to know. The only person I wanted to reveal my new insight with is Trevor and I couldn't do that until I was alone with him. Porsha was kind enough to let us hang at her house until dusk. Her father was on a administration trip so it was just us three. We ate dinner at her house and waited until the time came. After what felt like days, the sun finally hung low in the sky. We said our goodbyes to Porsha and we both headed towards the campus gates. As soon as we turned onto the sidewalk, Trevor called my bluff.

"Jake I know something's wrong. What is it?"

I continued walking and waited for him to catch back up with me.

"I had the same nightmare Stacey did last night," I said once he appeared next to me.

"I thought you said the nightmares were over?"

"Well I thought so too. But even when I was having them I was convinced that they were about my accident."

"So you ran through the woods and found the bloody fence last night?"

I didn't answer him quite yet. I remained quiet as we crossed the street and passed the local pizza parlor.

I sighed and looked at Trevor walking next to me, "Not exactly."

"Okay, explain."

"I was the person Stacey heard screaming in her dream. I was the person who left the claw marks and the blood. It was me."

Trevor looked taken aback by the mere coincidence of having the connected dream with Stacey.

"What are you thinking?" he asked looking down at the sidewalk.

"I'm thinking we really did misread this thing."

"How so?" he said as we finally made it to the gates.

"Don't completely flip out on me okay."

"Come on Jacob I'm not that unstable."

"Um…I think it's Clay that's doing this."

"Clay!"

"Yeah."

"Jacob he's in prison."

"He could've got out."

"No I don't think so. All of them are in jail for a while especially Clay since he got charged with attempt of murder. They're not going to let him out after eight months."

"It happens."

"Well even if they did wouldn't they call us or something? You know, give us a heads up?"

"They're supposed to but the last time we spoke to the police we didn't know who or where the hell we were."

"Dude it can't be."

"Yeah Trevor it can. The letter "c", the camp, it fits. Plus he has a reason to come after me."

"But why would he mess with Stacey?"

"She was there that day remember. He knew we were connected somehow before he was taken away. It's the old trick. Get to the loved ones of the person you want."

"So you think he wants revenge?"

"Exactly."

"Wait. What about the woman in Stacey's dream? I've heard Clay yell and believe me he doesn't scream like a woman."

"That's the reason I didn't want to tell Stacey about this."

"Why?"

"I think Stacey heard herself screaming in her nightmare. I think the woman is her."

Trevor looked a little freaked out by all of this but I could see in his expression that he knew that it was a possibility.

"This changes things," he said leaning against the gate.

"Yeah that's why you have to promise me that you won't let anything happen to her tonight."

"What are talking about you'll be there to."

"For a little bit."

"What?"

"Stacey can't go near that camp. I'm the one Clay wants. He'll use Stacey to get to me. I can't let that happen."

"So we're going to split up?"

"Yes."

"Jacob that's like the number one rule in horror movies. Never split up!"

"Trevor this isn't a horror movie. It's real life. So please, you have to promise me you'll protect her no matter what," I begged placing my hands on his shoulders.

After several moments he looked me in the eyes and said, "I promise."

"Thanks. Stacey can't know anything about this, okay?"

"Yeah, yeah."

I could see from a distance that Stacey was heading our way.

"She's coming," I said informing Trevor.

Trevor placed his hands in his pockets and then said, "Crap, I left my cell phone at Porsha's."

"Don't worry Stacey will have hers."

"Yeah you're right," Trevor said as Stacey walked through the gates.

"Janie's car is parked in the B parking lot," Stacey said as she led the way to the car.

Once in the car we quickly talked the "plan" over. Unbeknownst to Stacey that plan was out of the window.

As I drove to the camp where I risked my life to escape, a million thoughts raced through my head. How could Clay get out of jail so quickly? Is the justice system that crappy as to let an almost murderer roam the streets? I also wondered what I would do or find when I faced Clay. Would he have the gun that he tried to use on Trevor and me that day? How would I protect myself from him? The scary thing is none of these questions are answered. But by the end of the night, all of them would be.

The bright full moon guided the way down the familiar road that led to the camp. It also helped Stacey remember where the hole in the fence was. We got out of the car and stepped out into the frigid air. All of us dressed warmly expecting to be out all night. Stacey gave each of us a flashlight to use and we used them to pull away the brush that surrounded the hole. The hole was too small for anyone to safety crawl through without getting any scratches from the loose barbs. I grasped the wire careful not to cut myself and held the wire while Stacey and Trevor made their way through. I then laid on the ground and carefully maneuvered my way through. I felt the barbs scrape against my back as I slowly made progress. Finally I was all the way through and as I stood up I realized we were in the clearing.

"This looks right," Stacey said walking ahead.

"Good, now what are we looking for?" I asked.

"Well in the nightmare a light always led to the woman. So I'm thinking we need to walk straight through the woods."

"Those woods are pretty thick," Trevor said walking up to Stacey.

"I know," she said as she took my hand and started walking.

I remember how thick these woods are too. Trevor and I walked out here all the time to talk and to get away from the camp. Once inside the darkness of the woods, we all three had a difficult time trying to figure out which way was north. Fallen trees caused us to deter off of our path as vines and thorns did also. The woods were completely silent. The only noise came from the sticks and twigs that snapped under our feet. Finally after what seemed like hours, we came across a giant fallen tree just like the one Stacey saw in her nightmare.

"This is it," she said, "We have to make it over this tree. A wooden fence is feet away from this."

"Okay, Trevor you go first so you can help Stacey on the other side," I said, " Here I'll give you a lift."

I put down my flashlight and held my hands together while Trevor griped the tree and placed his foot in my hands. I pushed him up onto the tree and seconds later I heard the thump of him landing on the ground on the other side.

"You got it Trevor?" I asked.

"Yeah send Stacey over," he said back.

"Gosh it feels like we're playing red rover," she said putting her foot in my hands.

Again I pushed her over the trunk while Trevor helped her down onto the ground.

"Okay I'm going to throw my flashlight over," I said and threw it over the trunk.

Then I griped the bark on the trunk and pulled myself up. Once on top I slide my way down to Trevor and Stacey.

"The fence is right here," she said pulling away vines and brush.

Seconds later a broken panel of a wooden fence appeared before us.

"Why do you think they put this up?" Trevor said.

"Probably to put an extra barrier from trespassers," I said.

I knew from experience that the camp lied beyond this fence. I knew these woods well. I knew Trevor knew too. I pushed the wooden panel and the force from the push cracked the rest of the panel. I was then able to move it aside. The long space revealed the cabins of the camp. And to my surprise, in one of the windows glowed a dim light. Someone was there.

"What is it?" Stacey asked as I moved aside to let her see, "It's the camp."

I looked at Trevor while Stacey was peering through the gap and gave him the this is the time where we split up look.

He shook his head in understanding and I said, "I'm going to check it out."

"No not by yourself," Stacey protested.

"I'll be right back. I'm just going to look. Besides you need to find this woman. She won't be in a cabin right. You saw here in the woods."

"Yeah but still. It's dangerous enough being in these woods but going to the cabins. You don't know what's in there."

"That's why I have to go. Don't worry Trevor's with you and I'll be right back."

I could tell from her expression that she knew I wasn't taking no for an answer.

"Okay be right back," she demanded.

"I will," I lied stepping through the gap and walking towards the place I previously called home.

I tried carefully to not make my presence known to Clay. If anything was working for me it was a surprise attack. I stepped behind the dark cabins guiding my way only by the full moon since I left my flashlight by the tree. No noise came from the lighted cabin. I slowly moved closer to the cabin and bent down close to the ground so I wouldn't be seen. I didn't think anyone was inside because if someone was you would be able to hear them walking or making some sort of a noise.

I quietly climbed the three steps that led to the door of the cabin. Anticipation and adrenaline filled my body as I carefully pushed the door open. I glanced inside and found no one sitting in the main room. So I then completely stepped into the room. In the corner a lantern sat on a stool and remained the only light source in the cabin. Shadows from the moon and lantern made seeing things hard in the large room. I quietly moved towards the kitchen which was pitch dark. Still no one. Not even a sound.

Then from behind a noise caught my ears. The sound didn't sound like much but it was definitely something. Fear encompassed me as I soon realized it was a person breathing. I swallowed and quickly turned but the pain of getting hit in the forehead with a bat enveloped me into complete darkness.

**REVIEW!**


	30. Fighting Against the Darkness

**This is Jacob's POV again. The stalker is revealed! REVIEW! **

**Disclaimer: I am not writing this as my own. All characters and ideas belong to Laurie faria Stolarz**

Jacob POV

I found myself slowly being pulled out of the darkness I had rested in. I felt my neck ache with pain as it hung down low to my chest. My back ached and I could feel dried blood plastered around my head as it throbbed with pain. Pain. That was the darkness I found myself trapped in.

But as I brought myself to consciousness, I felt an unusual weight resting on my legs. Not knowing what I would find, I cautiously opened my eyes, and my heart skipped a beat when I saw what was resting on my lap.

"Lily?" I said when my eyes finally focused.

The girl on my lap smiled and then looked down on the ground beside the chair we were both sitting in. Laying on the hardwood floor was a baseball bat. The bat from Stacey's nightmare. My pulse quickened when I found that my hands and feet were tied to the chair with rope. I was trapped. This whole thing was a trap. I was right about the nightmares. The nightmares were about me. But why Lily? Why would she do this? I do have one thing working with me. I know Lily. I know how her brain works and how she was raised. I can get myself out of this situation. I have to be the one in control. Not her. I can not show fear.

"So," I said trying to readjust in the chair, "What are you planning on doing?"

"Oh Shell," she said as she pressed a hand to my face, "Everything that you have been taught here, you have forgotten."

"What are you talking about?" I asked wincing in pain as I tilted my head back trying to escape her touch.

She smiled an innocent smile and moved from my lap.

"I have been watching you for a while Shell. You're not the same person you were at the camp. That's why this is going to be easy."

This behavior is not normal coming from Lily. Sweet Lily. Something happened, something big.

"What happened to you?" I asked as I watched her walk from one side to the room to another.

This questioned as simple as it was hit a soft spot inside of her.

"What happened to me?" she repeated walking closer to me, "You Shell! You happened to me! It's all your fault!"

She now stood directly in front of me and was practically screaming at me.

"If you would have just listened to Clay and not ask questions then everything would have been fine!"

When she spoke Clay's name a light bulb went off in my head. Clay isn't here.

"Where's Clay," I asked.

This question really upset her. Everything that went down earlier this year obviously caused her to hit rock bottom.

"You know where he's at. He's in prison because of you and Brick and your stupid girlfriend!"

"This really is about revenge," I said looking straight at her, "You're trying to tear me and Stacey apart by getting rid of me."

She laughed clearly amused by my statement.

"Yes it would be nice to make you feel the same way Clay and I feel now that we are separated. This whole thing is more about you, and what you did to destroy me and Clay's life."

"Lily you have a chance to live the life a person is meant to live. Living in a camp and being brainwashed isn't a life. It's prison."

I thought my words would upset her more, but she calmly turned to me and said, "It was the life I wanted to live. Being in this world is horrible. Sex and money are what people live for. Not values and spiritual beliefs."

"You don't have a lot faith in society."

"No, I don't. It's because of you I have to live in this world. It's because of you Clay isn't here. It's because of you they made me change my name to Courtney."

As I looked at Lily, tears feel from her eyes. She was truly hurt. The camp was all she knew. She didn't know any better. It really must be hard for her to live in this materialistic society. Changing her name was the last straw. She was doing this because of Clay. Even behind bars he has control over her. I did feel pity for her but I had to put it aside because of a life threatening situation. I had to get answers.

"Why go after Stacey? What does she have to do with this? I'm the one that betrayed the camp not her."

My question made her smile again. She placed her hands on my shoulders and brought herself into my lap. Her pushing on my shoulders sent shots of pain through my neck and head and dizziness started to set in.

She grabbed my chin with her hand and brought her face close to my ear. "Because you love her."

Just then my phone vibrated in my pocket. I closed my eyes out of fear of what Lily would do. She jerked my chin away which made me more dizzy and this caused more pain to fill my head. Lily reached into my pocket for my phone and I prayed it wasn't Stacey. My fears were soon real when the screen of the phone revealed a text from Stacey saying that her and Trevor were by the fence waiting on me.

Lily started shaking and immediately jumped out of my lap. She dropped the phone on the ground and leaned over me and grabbed the baseball bat on the floor.

When I realized what she was going to do I yelled, "Lily! No!"

She completely ignored me and brought the bat high above her head and in a quick second slammed the bat down onto the phone shattering it into a thousand pieces.

"Now it has everything to do with Stacey!" she yelled throwing the bat down.

She walked to the other side of the room and pulled the closet door open. Then she walked back over to me and grabbed the back of the chair and started pulling me towards the closet.

"Lily stop!" I yelled, but it was no use.

She knew Stacey and Trevor were here. This is it. This is the nightmare. Once the back of the chair was in the closet she walked around to the front and put her hands on my knees.

Feeling like it was my last chance to save Stacey and Trevor, I looked Lily in the eyes and begged, "Please, don't."

She looked into my eyes and for a quick second I saw the old Lily.

But my vision soon faded when she responded, "No."

With all her strength she pushed my knees causing me and the chair to fly backwards into the closet. The back of my head slammed into the back wall of the closet and I yelled out in pain. I felt blood dripping down my neck and my vision was blurry as Lily pulled a piece of cloth out of her pocket and wrapped it around my mouth. My head was in so much pain as she tightly tied the cloth. She then walked out of the closet and with a lot of force closed the door. Stacey and Trevor were now in extreme danger and there was nothing I could do about it. My head felt light and the pain was overpowering but I was not going to let it take over me this time. I would not be defeated by the darkness. Lives depended on it.

**Did you see it coming? Let me know what you think and review! **


	31. Keeping Your Promise

**A/N :As you can probably tell I like to take twists and turns in my stories. I promise the ending won't let you down. I received a lot of author favorites and favorite story alerts from the last couple of chapters. I appreciate it so much! Unfortunately I only received one review! We're almost to the end of this and I would really like your feedback! **

**This was one of my favorite chapters to write so far, it really shows the character of some of the characters. I hope you like it to. This chapter also sets up the action for the remaining chapters so there's something to look forward to. I plan on updating pretty regularly since it's almost done. Enjoy and Review!**

* * *

**Disclaimer: I am not writing this as my own. All characters and ideas belong to Laurie faria Stolarz**

Stacey POV

I didn't want Jacob to go across the fence and into the camp. There's no telling what's inside those cabins especially since they've been locked up for months. But Jacob insisted that he should go and that we should look for the woman. So while Jacob went to check out the cabins, Trevor and I, still staying in close proximity to the fence, searched through the woods for any sign of the woman. Unfortunately we found not one clue. We hadn't seen or heard anything out of the ordinary sounds of the woods. But as we returned closer to the fence, I noticed how much time had gone by since Jacob had left us. He should have been back by now. And from the look on Trevor's face for the last thirty or so minutes, I can tell he's a little worried too.

"It feels like we've been waiting for at least an hour," I said as I pushed a branch aside.

"I'm sure he's just being curious and nosy," Trevor said as he helped me across a small log.

Obviously Trevor meant to reassure me with his statement but he failed. When he thought I wasn't looking, he adverted his eyes straight ahead towards the fence opening. He is definitely worried, and I think the time has come to reassure ourselves.

"Hang on," I said stopping and pulling my phone out of my pocket, "I'm going to text him real quick."

"Good idea," Trevor said breathing a small sigh of relief.

I sent Jacob a message saying that Trevor and I were near the fence and added the question of if he was okay at the end. After sending the message, Trevor and I walked back to the opening where Jacob crossed the fence. Five minutes turned into ten minutes as ten minutes turned into fifteen minutes.

I looked to Trevor who was sitting on the ground pulling at some weeds. I leaned against the fence hoping that Jacob would be on the other side soon. The sun had long gone down and the cold fall air had set in. I dug my hands into my pockets and stared up into the night sky. The full moon was in full force now and it shone a silvery light down upon the woods.

Panic started to set in when I noticed the fifteen minutes had turned into twenty. Something was tremendously wrong and I couldn't take it anymore. As I looked down at Trevor sitting on the ground, I knew he felt the same way. His face had an uneasy and panicked quality to it and I knew he was trying to hide it from me.

"Trevor," I said breaking his trance from the weeds, "Something's wrong. He should be back by now."

Without looking at me, he rose from the ground and brushed the dirt from his legs.

"I know," he responded.

His answer kind of annoyed me but I pushed it aside, "We have to do something. There's no sign of the woman. We have to make sure Jacob's okay."

Trevor sighed and looked down at his feet.

"Trevor?," I said noticing his sudden extreme discomfort towards me, "Trevor, what is it?"

He raised his head and moved closer to me. My panic level rose as I realized that Trevor knew something. And prior to this moment he hadn't been planning on telling me at all.

"Trevor tell me!" I yelled.

He mumbled some words and then cleared his throat.

"I have to tell you something," he said.

I felt the huge lump lodge into my throat when he repeated the words from my nightmare. I closed my eyes to keep myself from screaming out.

A few seconds later I was composed enough to deliver my line from the nightmare, "What?"

He walked past me and ran his hands through his hair.

"Trevor tell me!" I yelled knowing that time is not on our side.

"Okay, okay!" he yelled back more panic stricken then before, "Jacob had the same nightmare you did last night except he was on the other end. It was his scream you heard and it was his blood you saw."

"What?" I whispered feeling as though someone had just punched me in the chest.

"Jacob…he thinks…he thinks that your nightmares have been about him and that Clay is the one who's doing this."

The ground beneath me started to spin and I felt I could have thrown up at that very moment. Jacob knew and he didn't tell me. Why didn't he tell me? And Clay?

"Why didn't he tell me?" I asked Trevor.

"He didn't want you to get involved," he said, "He wanted to protect you and he knew that Clay would use you to get to him."

"So he's in those cabins fighting the man who tried to kill both of you!" I yelled standing up, "Well…we can't just wait here! We have to help him!"

I ran towards the fence fully intending to go through the opening and help Jacob, but Trevor grabbed my arm and stopped me.

"Stacey you can't just run in there! We have to calm down first! We need a plan!"

Trevor was right. I can't just run in there like a mad woman. That's just asking to get all of us killed.

"Okay," I said, "What do we do?"

Trevor took a breath calming himself down and then pressed his fingers to his forehead.

"Um..," he said seconds later, "We need to sneak around by the cabins and find Jacob. Then you stay outside and I'll go inside while you call the police."

"Trevor that's crazy! You can get yourself killed!"

He shook his head in understanding and reached for my hand.

"I know. But me and my best friend once promised each other that neither of us would leave this camp without the other. I have no intention on breaking that promise now. Plus I also promised that I would take care of his girl. I can't let him down."

He let go of my hand and at that moment I gained full admiration for Trevor. He then reached down to the ground for his flashlight just as I did. I clicked the on button and a flow of light shot out from the end. Trevor continuously clicked his flashlight's button but nothing but darkness came out of it.

"Damn," he said shaking the flashlight up and down, "Stupid thing."

"Here," I said handing him my flashlight, "Go back to the log and get Jacob's. I'll use the light from my phone to get through the fence."

"Okay," he said and with that ran back to the tree to retrieve the flashlight.

I then laid my phone on the ground next to the opening in the fence. I gently pressed a button making the LCD screen light up. One leg at a time I went through the opening. Once on the other side I could see that the wooden fence went on for some distance. It seemed like it covered the length of the camp. I heard rustling behind the fence but I figured it was just Trevor trying to find his way back to the log. In front of me in the near distance stood the housing units of the former camp. The cabin to the far right though had something out of the ordinary about it. A small but very faint glow shone through the cabin window. I began to admire the soft glow until I remembered Trevor. Where the hell is he?

I turned and reached through the opening trying to find my cell phone for guidance. As I felt around the cold ground, I realized it wasn't there. I pulled myself back through the opening without light. I scraped my ankle against the bottom of the jagged piece but other than that everything was good. I bent down to my knees searching for the phone again but still could not find it. It's gone. I know it was just here, I just laid it down a few minutes ago. Giving up I stood back up and stared staring ahead into the darkness.

"Trevor?" I said into the darkness.

Maybe my flashlight went out and he came back to get my phone. But why wouldn't he just say he was using my phone? I walked closer carefully making my way towards the log.

"Trevor," I said finally making it to the log.

The ground appeared as a blanket of black with a few streaks of silver from the moonlight. From the small light I did have, I could tell the flashlight was gone but Trevor was not here. My pulse quickened and panic started to overcome me again. I closed my eyes and listened for any sound but the only sound came from my deep breathing.

"Trevor!" I said with a little more aggression.

This can't be happening. I can't do this alone. I need Trevor. Maybe he went left or right. Maybe he forgot which direction he was facing.

I wrapped my jacket tighter around me and began walking to the right. He wouldn't have gone over the log. There would be no point to it. The ground felt frozen against the soles of my shoes and the wind made an eerie sound as it blew through the trees. After seeing nor hearing nothing, I turned around and began walking back to the left until I heard a noise that was all to familiar.

My heart raced and I moved and pushed my legs as hard as they would go when I heard the screaming. The screaming from my nightmare. The scream wasn't Jacob's. The scream belonged to Trevor.

"Trevor!" I yelled as loud as my lungs would let me.

Tears fell from my eyes as I pictured Trevor being dragged through the barb wire fence. Trevor screamed again. My breathing was quick and my legs began to tire as I raced back to the fence. Vines and thorns hit and scratched me in the face as I quickly ran through brush. I found blood running down my cheek after I tripped and fell into some brush. My legs were so tired but I had to keep running.

I kept looking to my right keeping an eye out for the fence. Finally I saw it and I stopped in my tracks at the log. My heart was racing and my throat ached from breathing so hard. I tried to catch my breath but it was no use. I had to get over this log to get to Trevor before it was too late. I had to.

I griped the log with my hands and placed my foot in a crevice in the log. I pushed my muscles to their limit but their limit was not enough. I quickly slid down the log and as I did bits and pieces of bark entered my skin. I screamed out in pain and jumped back to the ground. I felt the blood escaping the holes in my skin but I couldn't let that stop me. I again reached for the log and placed my foot and pressed with all my might. I made it further up the log this time but still failed as I slipped and slammed my chin into the log causing it to bust open. My chin felt warm and my entire jaw ached with pain. There was no use. I wasn't getting over this log.

I started to cry and began slamming my fist into the stupid log causing pain to my already injured hands. A vision of a helpless bleeding Trevor clawing his way out filled my mind My body ached and I was already exhausted. I had failed. I had failed Trevor.

I cried harder but soon found it easier to breathe. I took deep breaths in and out to calm myself. As my calm level increased, my anger did also. That stupid son of a bitch Clay already ruined Jacob and Trevor's life. I'm not going to give him the chance to do it a second time. I have to be strong for Jacob and Trevor.

With this spurt of motivation I ran back to the fence opening and crossed through the hole in a mere second. I cupped my hands around my face and started to think. I need to read my nightmare. What was a signal? Then as I looked up and out into the distance, it came to me. The soft glowing light. The light from my nightmare. That is where I will go. The light always led the way. With that I took off towards the cabin to the far right and promised myself that I would not leave this camp without my beloved boys.

**Sorry for the cliffhanger about Trevor. I promise you will know his fate by the end of this. Please Review!**


	32. The Battle is Over, Hope Begins

**This is officially the climax of the story. Enjoy and Review!**

**Disclaimer: I am not writing this as my own. All characters and ideas belong to Laurie faria Stolarz**

**Stacey POV**

The soft glow of the light escaping the cabin window sets the cabin apart from the rest. In my nightmare the light always led the way, and I hope that it will now lead the way to Jacob. As I stand next to the glowing cabin, I listen for any sound coming from the inside. I hear nothing but silence. I don't have any idea what's inside the cabin, but I will soon have to find out. I wish I had a flashlight to use. A flashlight could be easily used as a weapon.

I can feel my chin swelling up from the impact with the log. My jaw is still really tensed up from the impact but the pain isn't has bad as the pain coming from my hands. Pieces of bark splinter out of my palms, and I bite down on my lip to keep from screaming when I remove them. My mind and hands are my only weapon against Clay. They both need to be in the best shape possible given the situation. The adrenaline that pumped through my body as I ran through the woods definitely heated my body temperature up. My mind and nerves have now calmed down a bit and I now feel the freezing air lay upon my body. I can't procrastinate any longer. For one Jacob and Trevor don't have much time left. Second I'll freeze to death if I stay out here in the cold for much longer.

Staying pressed up against the wall of the cabin, I make my towards the door. Several steps lead up to the door. Little shots of pain spring up in my legs as I slowly and quietly climb the stairs. I lightly press my ear against the door trying to hear any sort of noise. Again, I only hear silence. My pulse picks up as I cautiously push the door open to a crack. I bend down low and peer inside the cabin. No one is inside but I now know the origin of the light. I push the door open enough for me to fully step inside. Sitting on a small table in the corner by the closet door is a lantern. As I stare at the golden light source, a sense of knowing overpowers me. Jacob is here. But where?

I move into the center of the large room. I can tell there is another room to the left but it is saturated in darkness. The walls and floor of the cabin hardly have a shape as the only light source is coming from the lantern. The light emanating from the lantern casts flickering shadows across the room. In between its flickering dance, I notice two long marks on the floor. I bend down and touch the marks trying to get a feel for them. The energy coming off the marks is ragged and raw. It appears as if something was dragged across the hard wood floor and moved in the direction of the closet.

I stand up and stare at the closet and I feel a pull towards it. I move to stand in front of the closet door and when I do I hear another familiar sound. I gently press my ear against the door making sure I actually heard the muffled sound of someone breathing. I hear it again and when I do I lay my hand upon the doorknob. The heart in my chest beats stronger and louder as I prepare to open the door. In my head, I count to three and swiftly swing the door open.

"Jacob!" I shout when I see him sitting in the chair in front of me.

His hands and feet are tightly bound with rope to the chair and a piece of fabric covers his mouth.

"Oh my God," I say as I reach behind his head to untie the fabric.

When I touch the back of his head he screams out in pain and I quickly yank my hand back. When I do I notice my hand is now covered with fresh blood. I look into his slate blue eyes and see pain and fear.

"Look," I say, "I have to untie it so you're going to have to take a deep breath when I do it."

He understood and tightly closed his eyes and I reached behind him and in one swift motion pulled at the knot releasing the fabric.

"Damn't!" he yelled and hung his head down dealing with the pain.

A few seconds later he looked back up at me, "Stacey," he breathed, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," I said as I started to try and get the ropes untied, "Are you?"

"I'll survive," he said breathing.

"You're that sure?," said a voice from the right.

The voice didn't belong to Clay and I was extremely confused. I immediately stood up and noticed a woman standing in the doorway. She looked out of place with her beautiful golden hair and sweet dimples. She looked almost angelic until you saw the bloody baseball bat in her hand. I moved in front of Jacob attempting to protect him since he is seriously injured and tied to a chair.

"Shell," the woman said with a smile, "You're a bad boy."

Whoever this woman was she only knew Jacob by the name people at the camp called him. Shell. Every passing moment I became even more puzzled so I decided to try to take control of the situation.

"Who are you?" I asked the blonde woman.

"I'm Courtney," she said while swinging the bat from side to side.

This movement made me uncomfortable and even more uncomfortable when she stated her name. Her name started with a "C". But it still didn't make sense. Why would she do this?

Then from behind me I heard, "She's Lily."

At that moment it all came into perspective. Lily was the girl Jacob knew at the camp. She was also Clay's girlfriend. I was almost relieved when I realized that Clay wouldn't be here. I could take on a skinny bitch better than I could a grown man.

"You're doing Clay's dirty work," I said with all of the confidence I could muster.

"Someone has to pay," she said still swinging the bat.

"For what?" I asked as she moved closer to us.

"For betraying us!" she yelled.

I quickly glanced behind me to see if Jacob was alright since he's been quiet for some time. I then noticed that he was trying to untie himself and my body was blocking him from Lily. To give Jacob time, I decided to taunt Lily. To hit on her soft spot and get her to break down.

"It's not Jacob's fault for what happened."

"Yes it is! Everything is his fault! He tore me and Clay apart!"

"Lily you don't have to do this!"

It seemed like she didn't even hear me when she said, "Now I'm going to tear you two apart!"

With that she moved even closer to me and held the bat high in the air. I quickly moved to the left and her swing progressed into the wooden wall with a loud crack. I could see Jacob was almost done with the ropes and was having a hard time now since he has lost so much blood.

Lily then turned around and ran towards me with the bat. Fortunately I was quick enough to grab the bat and I pulled with all my might to get it away from her. My hands stung as I held the bat tight and swung it from side to side trying to knock her off. Pain ran up my arms as I pulled the bat and I realized this wasn't going to work. I then pushed hard against the bat and Lily, and I let go of the bat as she flew backwards onto the ground.

I glanced over at Jacob who was now on the last knot. I needed more time and I don't know how much more physical I can get.

"Clay doesn't have to control you!" I said to her as she started to get up off the ground, "You can get help!"

"Help?" she said with a laugh, "Help? You don't understand! This isn't what I wanted!"

Jacob was done but Lily didn't notice. I had to get Lily in front of Jacob so he was behind her. So I started to circle around the room which caused her to circle around back to Jacob.

"What do you want Lily?" I asked as she moved closer to Jacob.

"I want Clay!," she said with tears in her eyes, "I want how things were before Shell and Brick ruined it all! I've made Brick pay, and now I'm going to make Jacob pay."

This girl is seriously messed up.

"What did you do to Brick?" I asked as Lily finally stood directly in front of Jacob.

I knew what she did to Brick from my nightmare so I didn't hear her answer. I stared above Lily's head at Jacob and I soon found this was a mistake. Moments before Jacob was going to attack Lily, Lily noticed I was looking above her head. Her eyes narrowed and before I knew it she had turned and cracked the baseball bat against Jacob's forehead. He fell towards the ground and I screamed when I knew what was going to break his fall.

"Jacob!"

Jacob fell right on top of the lantern and glass shattered all across the floor on impact. He screamed an ill shrieking scream when a piece of the lantern entered his abdomen.

"Jacob," I screamed out now in complete darkness.

I wanted so badly to run over to Jacob and help him but I couldn't. Because now I have no idea where Lily is and the cabin is in total darkness. It's so dark that I might as well shut my eyes. All of the nerves in my body are on end and my hands shake as I listen for Lily, but all I hear is Jacob in the corner whimpering in pain.

I walk around a little until I hear one footstep behind me. I know Lily has the bat so I quickly hit the floor before she can give me the same fate as Jacob and Trevor. I know like me she can't see anything so I try not to make a sound when she slams the bat into the ground right beside my head.

She stays near the ground so I take a chance. I grab her wrist and swing her over towards me. It catches her off guard so I'm able to grab the back and throw it. It lands in the kitchen with a loud thud on the hard wood floor. I hear Lily breathing and I maneuver my body away from hers. But just as I am almost out of her reach, she gets hold of my ankle and pulls me back towards her. Her fists pound into my head and I try my best to block her hits. One of her punches hits me right in the chin and I scream out in pain. Her hits are getting harder and I try to think of a plan as she sits on top of me and beats me.

I then remember that there is glass all across the floor by Jacob. If I can somehow get over there, I can use the glass. Lily starts to get tired and I take the chance. I reach and grab her by the arms and pull her down to the ground and push her head against the hard floor. This seems to hurt her and I get up and run towards the glass.

Unfortunately I slip and fall down upon the shattered glass. I feel the glass shards enter the skin in my back but I try not to scream. The glass cuts my hands even more as I feel around on the ground for a large shard. I finally find one and Lily has found me. She doesn't see I have the shard in my hand and leaps down on top of me. A scream escapes her mouth as the glass enters her shoulder. She immediately rolls over onto the floor and I get up running towards the kitchen for the bat. My legs give out when I enter the kitchen and my head feels like it was cracked open. I reached for the bat and pushed myself up off the floor.

As I ran back to the room, I noticed the door was slightly opened. I thought she got away but I realized it was her own little diversion when she stepped into the moonlight coming through the crack of the open door. She started to run towards me but I didn't give her the chance to attack me. With every ounce of energy I had left in my body, I swung the bat hitting her in the head and knocking her to the ground. She feel to the ground like Jacob but did not make a sound when her body hit the floor. When she didn't get up I feel to my knees and cried.

It was over. It was finally over.

My body immediately felt not as tense and my heart was filled with relief. But those good feelings were overshadowed by the fact that Jacob laid in the corner bleeding to death and we have no way of getting help. I didn't have the energy to stand back up so I crawled across the floor to Jacob. The light from the moon shone across his still body and I reached for his chest and pulled him towards me. I leaned my back against the wall and laid Jacob across my lap. Blood covered the front and back of his head and the front of his shirt was soaked with blood.

"Jacob," I said shaking him a little, "It's over."

As I looked down upon his bloody face, he opened his eyes for just a second, and then closed them. His hand then came to rest on his chest and he held it open for me to take. I gratefully took it and ran my hands through his hair. Now that light was back in the cabin I noticed that I could see my breath in the air in front of me. The wind now had no barrier and could easily enter the cabin. I couldn't leave Jacob to go get help. I couldn't leave Jacob to go find Trevor. If I did those things, Jacob could die. He's extremely injured and I honestly don't think I have the energy to go back through those woods. All we can do is wait and hope that someone comes.

Review!


	33. Mysterious Ways

**This chapter switches from Jacob's POV to Stacey's POV. It also is spanned across some time so be on the look out for time markers. This chapter reveals a lot of things and unfortunately is the second to last chapter. The end is near so enjoy and review!**

**Disclaimer: I am not writing this as my own. All characters and ideas belong to Laurie faria Stolarz**

**Jacob POV**

The room around me spins like a top and all I want to do is drift off to sleep so that I won't be able to feel this pain anymore. Practically my entire upper body is drenched in blood. With my hand I can feel the large shard of glass sticking out of my torso. I thought my head hurt after the first time Lily smacked me against the head, but her second blow was a hell of a lot worse. I'm pretty sure the impact from Lily's second hit broke the bone of my eye socket. I'm exhausted and cold and it seems like the temperature has dropped.

I'm not a doctor or anything but when a person is losing a lot of blood people usually say that drifting off is not the smart thing to do. I look up at Stacey who is resting her head against the wall. She has no energy left, but she continues to hold me tight and run her hands through my hair. She saved my life tonight, and I don't think she realizes how brave she is. I have to be strong for myself and for Stacey. I have to fight.

"Stacey?" I say as a whisper.

She tilts her head down to me, "Hmm?"

"I'm so proud of you," I say stroking her cheek with my hand.

She lifts her hand and presses her palm against mine resting on her face. Stacey then moves her head and looks out across the floor to the other side of the room.

"What if she wakes up?" she asks.

"She won't," I say with confidence.

Even though I was in extreme pain at the time, I could still hear and feel the force of Stacey's swing against Lily's head. She wasn't waking up any time soon. I still am having a hard time believing what went down tonight. We completely misread Stacey's nightmare. Everything was not what it had seemed to be. We were all practically going into this thing blind. But the worst part about this situation is that it is all my fault. It was because of me that Stacey was in danger. I feel like I have to apologize to Stacey while I still can.

"Stacey," I say, "I'm sorry."

"Jacob don't be sorry. You couldn't have known all of this would happen. None of us could."

"I know but still."

Stacey placed her hands on my chest but quickly pulled them away.

"Jacob you're losing way too much blood."

My shirt and jacket were completely soaked with blood so Stacey unbuttoned my jacket and pulled it aside revealing my injury.

"Here," she said removing her jacket, "I'll tie this around your waist and maybe the pressure will help the bleeding some."

"No, you'll freeze to death Stacey," I say pushing her hand away.

"Maybe," she said, "But if I don't do this you'll bleed to death."

She reached beneath me and carefully wrapped the jacket around my back and around my waist. Making sure the knot would be next to the glass shard, she twisted the jacket and when it was in place she tied a strong knot.

"There," she said pulling the knot tighter, "Does that feel any better?"

"Yeah," I said.

It actually did feel better. Having the knot control the bleeding was nice. It didn't feel like my insides were spilling out. My eye was now starting to swell and I was having a hard time seeing out of it. All I wanted to do is to fall asleep in Stacey's lap and just relax but I knew I couldn't. I had to stay awake to make it.

As Stacey and I sit here in the darkness hoping that someone will come, I think about Trevor. When Lily said she had made Brick pay I knew what she had done. My nightmare had been a premonition to Trevor's fate. For what reason it was supposed to happen I don't know, but it did. I try to keep the image of Trevor laying on the freezing ground bleeding badly out of my mind. I have a feeling Stacey is having the same flashes in her mind. All I hope is that Trevor has the same fight and desire that I feel now and that he doesn't give up.

As I laid across Stacey's lap thinking about Trevor, my eyes had closed and I began drifting away. But before the darkness could take me, Stacey pulled me back into the light.

"Jacob," she said stroking my face, "Don't fall asleep. Wake up."

"I'm good. Believe me Stacey I don't want to be known as the guy that survived being lost at sea, amnesia, and a brainwashing camp and then dies off when he gets his ass kicked by a girl."

Stacey smiled but then looked away.

"Jacob?" she said bringing her attention back to me, "Why do you really think she did this?"

"Well I think it was really about Clay. Lily's world was made up of people telling her what to think and what to feel. She doesn't know how to do it on her own. Clay takes advantage of that and when the camp was broken up, she felt like I had took Clay away from her. Without Clay and that guidance, she's nothing."

We were silent for a few moments until I noticed Stacey shivering, "Stacey, you're freezing. Take your jacket back."

"No I'm fine."

"No you're not."

"That jacket could mean life or death. I'm not taking the chance. Plus it's covered in blood, it wouldn't help anyways."

Damn I felt so useless. It's taking everything in me to stay awake. I can only imagine how hard it is for Trevor since he doesn't have anyone looking after him. My head is dripping blood and the only thing that is keeping my torso from bleeding out is this jacket. I can't do anything. I'm tired and cold and as the minutes pass by I'm starting to lose hope. Hope for Stacey, hope for Trevor, and hope for me.

* * *

Stacey POV

My whole body is in extreme pain. I'm so cold and tired that I can't even talk anymore. No one is coming. Who would come? Everyone thinks this camp was liberated and closed off from the city.

I'm not even sure if Trevor or Jacob will make it. There's no telling how Trevor is right now. He could be dead for all I know. And Jacob. He passed out about five minutes ago from the blood loss. My jacket helped for a while but the blood he was losing from his head was too much. I know he tried to remain optimistic and try and keep himself awake, but he just couldn't fight it anymore.

My hand rests on his chest and I can feel his faint breathing through my touch. This is the only thing that has kept me awake and somewhat alert. It is also the only thing that is giving me hope. Jacob's been through so much in his life. A big part of that distress is because of me. I'm the reason he even came to the east coast in the first place. Jacob has to make it. He has to be right that everything will be okay.

I know Jacob was right about one thing. Lily hasn't woke up. Her body lies on the floor across the room completely still and quiet. I've considered crawling across the floor to check to see if she's even alive but then I think that I would rather not know.

One hour later….

I really don't know if hope is going to save us now. I don't even have the energy to sit up anymore. I bend my upper body down and rest my head on Jacob's chest. I feel his lungs move my head up and down, and I can hear the faint sound of his heartbeat. This is it. I can't do it anymore. I'm going to break my promise and leave this camp without my boys.

Some time later….

"Hello," the man said creaking the door open, "Hey Chuck , I think Brown and LeBlanc are in here."

The sound of their footsteps woke me up immediately but I couldn't bring myself to open my eyes and sit up.

"Chief," the man said into his radio, "I think we got Brown and LeBlanc and it looks like we're going to need paramedics to the scene."

"Damn there's a lot of blood," the man named Chuck exclaimed, "Mike help me out."

Chuck came towards us but soon stopped when the officer named Mike found Lily on the floor.

"There's another girl over here," he said.

"What the hell happened here," Chuck said as he felt along my back looking for a pulse.

To reassure the men, I slowly opened my eyes and sat up.

"She's awake," Chuck said as I rose, "You are Stacey Brown right?"

I couldn't speak so I just nodded my head signifying yes.

"And he's Jacob LeBlanc?" the other officer Mike asked.

I again nodded my head. Just then two paramedics came through the door. Both of them were women.

"Okay gentlemen let's get these two on gurneys and on to the hospital," one of the women ordered.

"Let's bring them to the same hospital as the other boy," the other said.

I knew then that they were talking about Trevor. Maybe he did make it. The officers named Mike and Chuck carefully removed Jacob from my arms and strapped him onto a gurney. Then the two paramedics asked me a few questions but I couldn't bring myself to answer them. As they carried Jacob and I out into the night, all I could think about was that we were rescued. Someone had helped and the hope that I had been hanging onto this entire night was somehow answered.

Two days later….

"Stacey are you awake?"

I knew that voice, it was my mother's. When I opened my eyes, a hospital room surrounded me. My mom was sitting in a chair next to my bed holding my hand and stroking my cheek.

"How are feeling baby?" she asked when I had fully opened my eyes.

"Tired," I said as a whisper.

"Well you just rest," she said.

"Where's Jacob?" I asked ignoring her recommendation.

She placed her other hand on my arm and said, "He's here down the hall."

"Well is he okay?" I asked sort of panicked.

"He's going to be okay. He suffered a severe concussion but luckily no damage happened to his brain. The piece of glass that went into him didn't even come into contact with any major body parts. He's lucky."

I was so relieved when my mother told me this news. After all of that he's going to be okay. After our conversation my mother went and got a nurse who checked up on me and told me my injuries. It wasn't until then I noticed that my hands were wrapped in gauze and I had stitches in my chin. I mainly suffered from dehydration and exhaustion and they were going to discharge me tomorrow morning.

My mother then informed me that Amber and Janie were here and that if I didn't mind they would like to see me. Of course I said yes. Minutes later they both walked into the room and rushed over to me and gave me a warm hug.

"Gosh I was so worried about you," Janie said wiping a tear from her eye.

"Yeah Stacey," Amber said putting an arm around Janie, "We were so scared."

"Well I'm okay," I said, "And so is Jacob."

"So what happened?" Amber asked.

"Amber I don't think now is the time," Janie said.

"No it's fine," I said.

They had every right to know and for the next fifteen minutes I told them every detail about our night. The last part was a little fuzzy so I couldn't tell them much about that. I was so exhausted and worried about how we were going to get out of there. Wait a minute? How did we get out of there?

"How did we get out?" I plainly asked.

Amber looked at Janie and smiled, "Little miss anti-witch over here did."

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"Well," Janie said placing her hand on mine, "I know you told us to wait and call at midnight if you weren't back yet. I don't know how it happened but all of a sudden I got this overwhelming sense of dread and despair. I just knew something was wrong."

"She was really freaked out," Amber said, "She convinced me and then we called the police."

So Amber and Janie were my saviors. It's a little weird since Janie hasn't always been the one to praise me for my spells. Maybe at the moment when I had completely given up hope and drifted off is when my feelings were directed to her. I didn't mean to do a spell but somehow it happened. I'm just thankful it did.

"You saved my life," I said to Janie reaching out my arms for a hug, "And Jacobs and…"

What about Trevor? Did Janie's sense save him to. All of a sudden a distant memory from that fateful night flashed through my mind. I remembered being on the gurney as the paramedics carried me to the ambulance. The police had torn down the barb wire fence and as they carried me across the destroyed remains of it, I remembered seeing the blood and claw marks on the ground. Did he make it? Or was the universe to gracious to save all three of us?

"Is Trevor okay?" I asked looking up at them both.

They both looked at each other and nodded.

"Stacey," Amber began, "Trevor's parents are outside in the hall. I'll ask them to come and talk to you."

With that Amber bent down and gave me one last hug and kissed me on the cheek, "You're my girl, baby cakes."

"Take care of yourself Stacey," Janie said as they both exited the room.

Anxiety and nerves filled my body as I waited for his parents to enter the room. If Jacob and I made it, Trevor had to have made it. He had to.

Just then a man and a woman entered the room with tear stained eyes. And as the woman moved towards me, the room became tensed. The man placed his hands on the woman's back as she told me the news. I didn't even know this woman, but at that moment we both shared a feeling of loss and we both held each other tightly as we cried into each other's shoulders.

**I had to leave that a cliffhanger! Sorry! Review!**


	34. True Feelings

**It's finally here! The last chapter of my story. Enjoy and Review!**

***Please read the note at the end. Thanks!**

**Disclaimer: I am not writing this as my own. All characters and ideas belong to Laurie faria Stolarz**

**Jacob POV**

Two days later…

I've always wondered what it feels like to die. Do you feel pain or do you truly feel at peace? At this exact moment, I feel relaxed and at peace. Maybe death isn't such a scary thing. All I can remember is being in the cabin with Stacey and waiting for the help that never came. My entire being was filled with pain and finally my body couldn't take it anymore. I let myself drift off into the darkness and now I guess I will forever float in that darkness.

"Jacob."

Stacey? No it can't be. Stacey shouldn't be here. She should have made it out. How could this have happened?

"Jacob."

This is my fault. If it wasn't for me Stacey wouldn't be here. If it wasn't for me Stacey would have left the cabin and the camp and have gone for help. She stayed behind to wait alongside with me with my horrendous injuries. I should have tried to stay awake. I should have fought harder. But in the end I didn't and now Stacey suffers the same fate as me.

"Jacob, it's me," she says again.

This time I feel a touch against my hand when her voice rings out. I shouldn't be feeling anyone's touch should I? Then all of a sudden different sounds echoed through my head. A beeping sound that is very repetitive. A heart monitor? I feel again a touch but this time on my forehead. I then feel as though I'm being rushed to the present and now I feel my entire body. I can feel my head resting against something soft as I can feel my body laying horizontally on a comfortable surface. I can hear sounds of machines and people walking. I'm in a hospital. I made it. If this really is real and I'm not imagining it, then when I open my eyes Stacey should be next to me. Instinctually my eyes open and a white hospital room surrounds me. Bright sunlight shines through the large window, and I squint as my eyes come into contact with the rays.

"You're awake," a voice says to my left.

I move my head against the pillow until I see the most beautiful girl sitting next to me. She wears a small smile on her face that distracts my eyes from the bandages that cover her chin.

"Stacey," I say moving my fingers against her hand as I feel the gauze that wraps around it.

"Yeah it's me," she says.

She really is here. This is all real. But how? How did we make it out? And why can't I see out of my left eye?

"What happened? How did we get here?" I say trying to sit up a little.

"Well it's kind of hard to believe but it was Janie," she said, "Janie saved us."

"How?" I said confused.

Janie was no where near that camp. How could she have saved us.

"Jacob after you passed out I didn't have anymore fight in me. I'd given up hope. But somehow what I felt in that moment was passed on to Janie. She all of a sudden felt despair and dread. She said she felt like something was wrong so she called the police. They found us a little while later."

"Wow," I said truly amazed.

Janie has always been nice and all but she has never been the type to approve of our ways with spells. She accepts what Stacey and I do but she doesn't like to get involved. It's strange how Stacey's feelings were directed towards Janie.

I then wondered what the police had thought about the whole situation. There's no telling what they thought when they found us in the shape we were in. I probably looked like a damn zombie with all the blood all over me. And the giant shard of glass sticking out of me probably looked like something off of Final Destination. But then I realized I couldn't feel any pain from any of my injuries. I wonder what kind of shape I'm in.

"So," I said with a sigh, "What's wrong with me? Why do I have something covering one of my eyes?"

"You have a concussion from the hits to your head. When she hit you in the face, the bat broke the bones around your left eye."

"Did they fix it?" I asked touching the bandage that covers my injury.

"Your doctor sent you into surgery when you got here. They reconstructed the bones so you'll be able to see soon. They also removed the shard in the same surgery. It looks like you're going to be okay."

After all of that I'm going to end up walking out of here in one piece. I'm a lucky son of a bitch.

"So what happened with Lily?" I asked.

Lily should not be the person on my mind right now. She's the reason why all of this happened. But I'll always feel a soft spot for her even though she tried to kill me. Clay can control her even when he is behind bars. Lily never learned how to think and feel for herself.

"Well a couple of days ago I was discharged from here. The police came and talked to me after that. They'll come and talk to you too once you've healed. I told them who Lily was and the things that she said to us."

"Is she here?" I asked.

I feel for the girl but she can't walk away the way she is from this.

"No," Stacey said, "She woke up in the ambulance on the way to the hospital. They said she was screaming and shouting things about the camp and us. They took her to a mental hospital to heal from her injury and to also heal herself."

"Good for her," was all I could say. Being in a mental hospital probably feels like punishment for Lily but it's what she needs. She needs to learn how to think rationally and for herself. She also needs to learn how to live in this world and survive without the values and beliefs of the camp. The only way Lily will survive is if she gets away from Clay. He's the one who told her to do this. A mental hospital would probably help Clay also since he tried to kill me and Trevor.

Just then it hit me. Trevor. Did he make it? Trevor was out in the cold all night and bleeding just as badly as I was. Could he survive that?

"What about Trevor?" I asked sitting up quickly.

This made me dizzy so I laid back down but the panic still boiled inside of me.

Stacey let go of my hand and stared at the floor.

"What is it?" I asked, "Tell me."

Stacey slowly rose her head up and tears welled up in her eyes.

"Jacob…,"she said, "He's in a coma."

"What?" I said completely horror struck. A coma?

"Yeah," she said grasping my hand again, "Our nightmares were a premonition about Trevor. He suffered some pretty bad trauma to the head. His parents are in his room in ICU."

An overwhelming feeling of guilt overpowered me. Trevor's in a coma and it's all because of me. My best friend in a coma. Just when Trevor finally gets the life he deserves, it's ripped out from underneath him. His new family loves him like he was their own. He has a nice house and goes to a nice school. And Porsha. She's perfect for him. She understands him. And now he's in a coma.

"Is he going to wake up?" I asked as tears filled my eyes.

"They don't know," she said.

"I can't believe this," I said shocked.

It was supposed to be me. Not Trevor. I should be laying in that hospital bed. It should be my parents standing around my bed waiting on me to wake up.

"Come here," I said reaching my hand out towards Stacey.

I didn't want anything more in the world to just hold Stacey. She took my hand and stood up and laid down next to me in the bed. Of course the bed wasn't big enough but the small space was comforting and intimate.

"Do you want me to go and get your parents?" she asked, "They're down the hall."

"No, all I want is to hold you," I said as she laid her head on my shoulder.

As we sat there in silence, thoughts raced through my head. If it wasn't for Janie I probably would be dead right now. I would never get the chance again to hold Stacey like this and have the smell of her air fill my nose. Life really is too short.

I had been waiting for the perfect moment to tell her. And I think this is it. The girl in my arms risked her life and stayed with me in the freezing cabin hoping that someone would come. She's risked a lot of things to be with me. Stacey has saved my life more than once. She gives me hope that things will work out and this makes me optimistic for the future. I can't run from this feeling anymore. I have to tell her.

"Stacey," I say as I stroke her hair.

"Hmm," she says against my shoulder.

"I love you," I say in one breath.

She raised her head and looked up at me. A smile spread across her face and more tears fell from her eyes.

She placed her hand on my cheek and said, "I love you too."

I grabbed her hand and brought it to my lips and placed a small kiss on top.

"You're everything to me," I said as she brought her lips to mine.

I felt her wet eyelashes brush against my cheek as she broke the kiss and stared into my eyes.

"Everything's going to be okay," she said kissing me again.

"Yeah, it is."

With that Stacey rested her head back onto my shoulder and we both looked out of the large window. The day was beautiful and the sun shone down gracefully towards the earth.

* * *

**I didn't want to end this story with Jacob's POV but I figured I could get back to Stacey through an epilogue. I didn't want to make the epilogue another chapter because of the time that I skip in it. Plus, I wanted to tie up some loose ends within the story and an epilogue seemed to fit that. But if you don't get a chance to read the epilogue, I want to say thank you to everyone who has read and reviewed my story. This was my first one and I'm happy to say it was an enjoyable experience. I'd love to write another one. I hope you enjoyed this story and thought that I did justice to the series. Please leave a review about your thoughts and feelings about my story. I would greatly appreciate it! Thank you! **


	35. Epilogue

**Here it is! The epilogue you have all been patiently waiting for. Thanks for all of my readers and all that have made me a favorite author and have made my story a favorite story. **

**Enjoy and PLEASE REVIEW! **

**Disclaimer: I am not writing this as my own. All characters and ideas belong to Laurie faria Stolarz**

Stacey POV

The buildings around us sparkle and glow from the beautiful lights that flow and hang across them as Jacob and I walk down the sidewalk hand in hand. Luscious wreaths and holly hang on doors of stores and the sound of bells fill the atmosphere. Crimson red and forest green are everywhere in sight and somehow the snowflakes falling from the winter grey sky shine the traditional whimsy colors. I've always had an appreciation for this time of year. Christmas is sacred even if the meaning means something different to everyone.

This holiday is supposed to make a person look back on their year and be appreciative for what all has occurred. Some would say that I did not have a lot to be appreciative of this year. The beginning of this year was rough. The boy I loved went missing and it felt like I had died inside. But a miracle did occur when Porsha and I found that boy and he was brought back to me.

The latest event of my treacherous life would make anyone stop believing in life and just give up, but something extraordinary happened and I was blessed to witness another miracle. Jacob was truly brought back to me, and we both survived an event that was traumatic. I smile as I remember Jacob and I lying in the hospital bed and the moment that he told me he loved me. It was the first time I felt whole in a while. I feel invincible and that nothing can stop me from living the life that I want. I also know now that anything is possible. Jacob, Trevor, and myself should not have survived that evening. I'm beginning to think that we all have nine lives like a cat and that we have used a couple in the past year.

That brings me to Trevor. Trevor still has not woken up by himself. The trauma to his head was so substantial that the doctors after about a week and a half decided to put him into a medically induced coma. Obviously this hinders Trevor's ability to wake up on his own but it is what is best for his health. The coma gives him protection against more harm and a better chance to recuperate. We all have asked if Trevor will ever wake up on his own and the doctors say that they are almost positive that he will given time. The aspect of if Trevor will be the same after he wakes is still very much unknown. No one knows if he will have the same personality or even have the ability to walk and talk.

After all the bad things that have happened in the past year, I have gained something good. Hope. I have hope that Trevor will recover. That's one thing I have learned. When you have nothing else to hold on to, there is always hope. Porsha thinks that too. I think she tells Trevor's doctors that at least three times when she visits which is quite often.

Porsha visits Trevor every chance she gets. She loves that kid. She sits next to him and talks to him about all the latest happenings. She took the whole situation kind of hard but after a while she too realized that there is hope. Trevor's parents even invited Porsha and her father over for Thanksgiving last month. I believe Trevor's parents are grateful for Porsha and her love for Trevor.

The carolers on the corner blurt out a verse of "Silent Night" as Jacob and I turn the last corner before the hospital. Christmas is a week away but we wanted to give Trevor our present before we left. Jacob's parents invited my mother and I to Colorado for Christmas. They figured it would do us some good to get out of this town for a while. Of course my mom told them it was too much and that she didn't want to burden them during the holidays. But after my mom and Jacob's mom talked about me and Jacob's relationship she crossed over to their side. I think they all finally got that me and Jacob are meant to be together. I hate the word fate but it would seem fate as stepped in along the way. And plus they realized that they might be in-laws one day which in turn made them all motherly in-laws all of a sudden.

So tomorrow morning Jacob and my mother and I will board a plane for Colorado. But we had to make one last stop before our trip. Jacob and I thought and thought about what to give Trevor for Christmas. I know he won't be awake for the holiday but when he does wake up we want him to know we thought about him for Christmas. Trevor isn't a materialistic type of person so we didn't want to give him anything that was a fad or something he wouldn't like. After a while we finally thought of what to give him. A crystal cluster rock. My crystal cluster rock. It has helped Jacob and I through so many obstacles. I could always count on it when I needed it. It gave me strength when I couldn't produce it on my own. Trevor needs that strength now and he rightfully deserves the special rock.

"Do you think Trevor will like it," I asked Jacob walking beside me.

He looked down at me and smiled, "Of course he will."

I smiled back and walked up the stairs that led to the lobby of the hospital. Jacob opened the door for me and I shook my head to get rid of the snow that had fallen on my head. I started to unbutton my jacket when Jacob grabbed my arm and pulled me into his chest. I stared back at him kind of annoyed. He laughed and his eyes began looking up. I followed his eyes and found the object his was staring at.

A mistletoe.

"I love you Stacey Brown," he said lowering his head to mine.

"I love you too Jacob LeBlanc," I said as he kissed me.

Times may be difficult but for some reason I feel as though everything will be okay. I have hope for the future and am excited that Jacob and I will forever be…connected.

**So how did you like my story overall? Do you like how I ended it? Is there anything you would change?**

**Please submit some suggestions and please REVIEW!**

**Thanks for reading!- **


End file.
